The media’s apologia for Hamas sinks to a new low, as NBC News runs a piece lamenting the “human cost” of the daring IDF raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas within civilian residential areas.
Watch as Lester Holt tees up Raf Sanchez’ report on the “human cost” of the four raids, and Sanchez touts his crew’s “documenting the painful other side of the story”.
LESTER HOLT: Back now with our NBC News investigation of the human cost of that Israeli special forces mission that rescued four hostages held for over eight months by Hamas in Gaza. Raf Sanchez joins us. And Raf, it comes on a day when there has been a major shake-up in the Israeli government.
RAF SANCHEZ: Lester, Prime Minister Netanyahu today disbanding the war cabinet following the break-up of that unity government formed after the October 7th attack, while in the heart of Gaza many families are still in mourning tonight. These images of Israeli commandos rescuing terrified hostages and reuniting them with their families after eight months of Hamas captivity were celebrated around the world. But inside Gaza, our NBC News crew documenting the painful other side of the story.
The report goes very quickly into victim storytelling, wherein Sanchez talks to the mothers of deceased Palestinian children. The “human cost” here has very real names, ages, and faces, and this item is very clearly calibrated and crafted with the intent to elicit both sympathy for the victims and anger towards Israel.
The IDF side of this one-sided story is told through nameless, faceless quotes of IDF spokespeople displayed on graphics as they are read out by Sanchez in a matter of seconds. Hamas draws pro forma mentions here and there throughout the report, so as to avoid accusations of omission. Beyond the IDF quotes, there is no recognition of the fact that civilians die in Gaza primarily because Hamas chose to embed among them before launching a medieval attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. And taking hostages which were then placed among the civilian population.
While watching this report, one can’t help but remember former Univision News President’s forum with Jay Rosen at the University of Texas, where he said:
ISAAC LEE: I think if you are an American journalist covering the Second World War, it’s not a problem for you to want the Nazis to lose. And I don’t think you need to be saying ‘Well, you know, the Allied Expeditionary Force Commander says this, and on the other hand the Fuhrer says that.’ I think it’s ok to understand that sometimes you have to be on the right side of the issues in history.
Israel’s war in Gaza proves that the obligation to be “on the right side of history” is finite and limited in scope. One can easily imagine NBC News sending crews over to Dresden and Tokyo, to chronicle the “human cost” of Allied bombing campaigns.
The absurdity of this piece is not lost among reasonable observers. Take Stephen Miller, for example:
NBC did the Norm tweet. https://t.co/GsguZKnWVn
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 18, 2024
At times, as this report shows, the Venn diagram between Regime Media and Hamas media is a circle.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC Nightly News on Monday, June 17th, 2024:
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
6/17/24
6:50 PM
LESTER HOLT: Back now with our NBC News investigation of the human cost of that Israeli special forces mission that rescued four hostages held for over eight months by Hamas in Gaza. Raf Sanchez joins us. And Raf, it comes on a day when there has been a major shake-up in the Israeli government.
RAF SANCHEZ: Lester, Prime Minister Netanyahu today disbanding the war cabinet following the break-up of that unity government formed after the October 7th attack, while in the heart of Gaza many families are still in mourning tonight. These images of Israeli commandos rescuing terrified hostages and reuniting them with their families after eight months of Hamas captivity were celebrated around the world. But inside Gaza, our NBC News crew documenting the painful other side of the story. The Hamas-run health ministry says at least 64 children were killed by Israeli fire during the raid. These are the stories of three of them. Taufiq, Karem, and Ahmed. Saher Aslei was already a mother in mourning long before the raid. Her eldest son died of cancer in 2022. And in March, she says, her two daughters were killed by an Israeli strike. Saher says 4-year-old Taufiq, her only surviving child, would ask "Why am I living? Why didn't I go with my sisters?" On June 8th, as Israeli troops moved in, Saher says she crouched in this corner, cradling Taufiq in her arms before the room went black and she saw blood on his face. Doctors at first thought Taufiq was dead.
DOCTOR: This…(unint)...4 years old child.
SANCHEZ: But just as he was being placed among the bodies, his hand twitched. A desperate rush to the emergency room, but the hope short-lived. He died five days later, his mother says. "He lived through three wars, his brother's death, his sisters' deaths. Taufiq never saw anything but war." The IDF says it has acted since the beginning of the war on its duty to return the hostages brutally kidnapped on October 7th, adding, "this operation is solid proof Hamas is hiding behind civilians and is holding hostages in the midst of densely populated civilian areas." You can see the house where Taufiq was killed was just 200 yards from the civilian homes where the hostages were held. But over a mile away near the coast, Nora Abuhami says she was getting lunch ready when Israeli helicopters opened fire on their camp. Her 8-year-old son Karem was killed instantly, she says. While his older brother Ahmed later died of his injuries. "He would tell me I want to go abroad and study and come back to Gaza. I'd like to be a doctor, Mommy." The IDF says “every loss of civilian life is a tragedy, a tragedy that Hamas brought upon us all. The IDF will continue to take all feasible measures in order to minimize civilian casualties.” Little comfort for Nora, who's left with only pictures and memories of her two young boys, who made each other smile, even in a war they couldn’t understand. Raf Sanchez, NBC News, Tel Aviv.
