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Anastasia Boushee

Fact-Checker Claims Hamas Has ‘Good Track Record’ Reporting Death Tolls

 

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler was roasted on social media for claiming in a Wednesday article that the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry has a “good track record” of accurately reporting death tolls.

Kessler’s article came in response to statements from President Joe Biden and other Biden administration officials who dismissed death tolls coming out of any organization controlled by the Palestinian terror group.

“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” the president said. “I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”

However, Kessler claimed in his supposed “fact-check” that the Hamas-controlled health ministry could be trusted to give true numbers when it comes to death tolls in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. In his attempts to back up his assertion, Kessler noted that the Biden administration and the United Nations had cited numbers from the Gaza Health Ministry in the past.

“Fact Checker: The president said he had ‘no confidence’ in the figures issued by the Hamas-run health ministry, but it has a good track record on reporting death tolls,” the Washington Post wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing Kessler’s article.

Meanwhile, an article from Time Magazine titled “How Hamas Wields Gaza’s Casualties as Propaganda” reveals the truth about how false death tolls are weaponized by the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

“The demographic analysis of the fatalities in the Gaza conflict has limitations. It can’t identify who is or isn’t a combatant,” the article states. “But the spike in fatalities among males starting in their late teens and peaking in their early to mid-twenties, and the divergence of the pattern of fatalities from the demographic pattern of the population, raises considerable doubt about claims that as many as 75% or more of the fatalities are non-combatants.”

The article also notes that “Hamas has instructed Gazans to describe anyone killed as a civilian,” and argues that “journalists have a responsibility to convey this uncertainty to their audiences and not present figures provided by Hamas and Hamas-affiliated sources as unqualified fact.”

It was obvious to many on social media that an entity controlled by a terrorist group is untrustworthy when it comes to reporting on the civilian death toll in an ongoing conflict — especially a conflict that escalated into a war when that terrorist group massacred 1,400 Israelis, most of whom were civilians. Thus, many critics blasted Kessler on social media for his attempt to legitimize Hamas.

“FACT CHECK: Alderaan Death Toll Greatly Exaggerated, Says Generally Reliable & Unbiased Galactic Empire Health Ministry,” Dan McLaughlin wrote, referencing the Star Wars movie series.

“What on earth is happening at WaPo where they think terrorists are reliable sources,” Steve Guest wrote, tagging one of President Biden’s spokesmen and adding, “I’m happy to assist in fighting back against this insane fact check. Your guy has this one right. Yes, WaPo is coming to the defense of Hamas terrorists to attack your boss.”

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