Journalists covering the war against Hamas: PLEASE ASK THESE FOUR QUESTIONS

In November, the Times of Israel was the fastest growing news website in the world for the second consecutive month (source: Press Gazette’s monthly ranking of the top 50 news websites in the world, using Similarweb data, December 21, 2023).  I expect that among the Times of Israel’s readers are journalists from around the world who are covering Israel’s war against Hamas.

I am watching alot of news about the war (mental health professionals will say I am watching too much).   I often grow frustrated that the most obvious of questions are not asked by journalists, which results in consumers of news not getting an accurate picture of what is happening in Gaza and why.

I am setting out four questions which I would ask the many journalists who read the Times of Israel to please think about, research and ask.  It will help the world audience gain a more complete picture of what is happening-and why.

1. Very sophisticated tunnel networks and vast caches of weapons have been found. What is the estimated cost to Hamas of all of that?  What would Gaza have looked like if all that money was spent instead on improving the lives of the people of Gaza?

2. Are there no mothers, wives or children of the nearly 8,000 Hamas members that have been killed, or of those yet to be killed?  Don’t they want the deaths of their loved ones to stop?

3. It is now clear to all watchers that Hamas builds tunnels under, and hides weapons in, hospitals, schools and private homes.  Don’t you have any objections to a society that has organized itself in this way?

4. Hamas is the government of Gaza and is responsible for its residents.  Why doesn’t Hamas simply surrender to save the lives of its people and to preserve the 80% of the buildings in Gaza that are not yet damaged or destroyed?  (According to an assessment of the United Nations issued on December 12, 2023 18% of all pre-conflict structures in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed since the war against Hamas began on October 7).