We expect these considerations to be taken into account in future reporting, even when it comes to reporting coming from news agencies : that Palestinians perspectives should be included so the reporting is impartial and to add more context when it comes to an occupation power that doesn't just kill Palestinians , but is also attempting to erase an entire civilization.
To the CityNews Newsroom,
I am writing to you on behalf of the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express our concerns regarding the Associated Press article by Wafaa Shurafa and Natalie Melzer titled "Israeli fire in Gaza kills 5 people, including a little girl, health officials say" published by CityNews on July 12, 2026. The article did an overall great job at reporting on Israeli drone strikes that killed four Palestinians and wounded many others. However, we would like to draw your attention on two significant issues.
First, the headline mentions that 5 “people” have been killed. Yet, this is happening at a time where the Israeli army is erasing Palestinian identity, deliberately targeting Palestinian culture heritage, universitaires, and other Palestinian institutions. In the interest of accurate reporting, we request that the headline be changed to specifically mention the Palestinian identity. The identity erasure attempt by the Israeli army in Gaza is unprecedented and needs to be mentioned especially when reporting on the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza.
Second, the article mentions the Israeli military's defense when it comes to the striking in the area that they claimed to be "terrorist infrastructure". However, the article fails to push back and raise skepticism around these baseless Israeli claims. Given Israel’s long and well-documented history of manufacturing lies to justify the killing of Palestinians, such uncorroborated statements should never be reported without context, skepticism, or independent verification. These allegations are always denied by Palestinians, resistance groups, and international investigations.
We therefore request you to always raise skepticism around Israeli claims. When it comes to the relative lack of Palestinian perspective in this article, the only Palestinian input is the casualty numbers provided by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza and the general precarious situation facing the majority of the Gazan population. The article should have added Palestinians' perspectives on Israel’s accusations of the bombings as "targeting terrorist infrastructure” including how these strikes impact innocent civilians rather than simply reporting that civilians were killed and wounded as a result of the attacks.
Finally, in the original article made by the two journalists from the Associated Press, there is also an extra paragraph that doesn't appear on the version on your website about an airstrike on a displacement tent. This seems to indicate that you have voluntarily removed this paragraph.
We expect these considerations to be taken into account in future reporting, even when it comes to reporting coming from news agencies : that Palestinians perspectives should be included so the reporting is impartial and to add more context when it comes to an occupation power that doesn't just kill Palestinians , but is also attempting to erase an entire civilization.
Thank you for taking this into consideration in future reporting.
Sincerely,
Hassan El-Khansa,
Volunteer Media Analyst for the Media Accountability Project