The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Last week, the IDF conducted a successful operation, eliminating eight terrorists, including individuals who infiltrated Israel on October 7. This was a clear victory for those who seek a world free from terrorism. However, Western media coverage of the event tells a different story.

🔴ELIMINATED: Several terrorists operating under the cover of journalists in Gaza

The IAF struck a terrorist cell yesterday in the Beit Lahia area that also included a terrorist who infiltrated Israeli territory during the Oct. 7 massacre. The terrorists struck were operating a… pic.twitter.com/XxKZ0elKm3

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 15, 2025

Many outlets like Sky News, the BBC, The Washington Post, and others barely mentioned the IDF’s account, burying it in brief paragraphs while prioritizing alternative narratives.

As expected, Hamas officials were among the primary sources either under the disguise of neutral terms “civil defense authorities in Gaza,” “the head of Gaza civil defense,” or directly.

For example, Sky News ran the headline: “Nine Palestinians killed, including three journalists, in Israeli airstrike, Gaza health ministry says.” Compare that to what could have been a more accurate headline: “Eight terrorists, including October 7 infiltrators, killed.”

Also, while Sky News openly cites Hamas (the so-called Gaza Health Ministry) as a credible source, other media don’t, ensuring that headline readers absorb Hamas’ version as fact.

A second, more elusive source in this case was a “London-based aid organization,” which some outlets avoided naming altogether.

• Washington Post: “Israeli strikes kill eight aid workers in Gaza, British charity says.”
• BBC: “Aid workers killed in Israeli air strike in Gaza, charity tells BBC.”
• Sky News: “An NGO says six volunteers were ‘deliberately targeted’ while delivering aid.”
• NPR: “Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 9, including aid workers and journalists.”

The organization in question? The Al-Khair Foundation — an international Muslim aid NGO based in the UK and Turkey. Not a single major outlet noted its religious affiliation, which would at least have questioned whether this NGO is a neutral and impartial entity.

Here’s the Al-Khair Foundation’s official statement:

It is with deep sadness and regret that we report the tragic loss of eight dedicated humanitarian aid workers in Gaza. The individuals, who were part of a relief mission, lost their lives in a drone airstrike that occurred despite an agreed ceasefire being in place. <…> we categorically refute any claims that those who were killed had any links to militant activities or connections with Hamas. These individuals were solely engaged in humanitarian work, striving to provide essential aid to those affected by the ongoing crisis.

This statement became the basis for media claims that those killed were aid workers. Yet, just hours later, the IDF published names and photos of six of the deceased, confirming their affiliations with Hamas. Among them:

• Mahmoud Yahya Rashdi Al-Sarraj — terrorist in Hamas’ engineering unit.
• Bilal Mahmoud Fouad Abu Matar — Hamas terrorist operating under the cover of a photographer.
• Mahmoud Imad Hassan Aslim — terrorist in Hamas’ Zeitoun Battalion, posing as a journalist.

Despite this, media outlets still parroted Al-Khair’s claims, failing to mention the IDF’s findings. A simple background check could have exposed the Al-Khair Foundation’s connections to terrorists in the Middle East.

Take Adham Abu Salmiya, Al-Khair’s Director of Marketing and Arab Relations in Istanbul. From 2009 to 2013, he was a media spokesperson for Hamas’ Ministry of Health in Gaza. He’s also a writer and activist whose essays make his position crystal clear.

In “Israel’s Strategic Defeat and the Resurgence of the Palestinian Narrative,” he refers to October 7 as the beginning of a Palestinian “strategic victory” without mentioning Hamas’ massacre even once. His conclusion leaves no doubt about his ideology: “For Palestinians, 7 October transcends direct hardships, pain and anger from Israeli massacres; it emerges as a defining moment where the balance of conflict tipped in their favour, representing a significant shift towards justice.”

The website “All4Palestine,” which profiles prominent Palestinians, states that Abu Salmiya supports armed resistance and believes in reclaiming all of “historic Palestine” through military means. So ultimately his ideology is not about aid — it’s about Israel’s destruction.

The Al-Khair Foundation has also been named as one of several NGOs responsible for setting up pro-Hamas crowdfunding sites.

Once again, the media has failed to report essential context, instead elevating Hamas-linked narratives while ignoring documented evidence. This is not just bias — it’s journalistic malpractice.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.