The Israeli forces have a history of using lies and misinformation as pretexts for their massacres. I therefore kindly request that the article be amended to raise skepticism around Israel’s unsubstantiated claims and to clarify that these Israeli allegations have not been independently verified in the interest of upholding journalistic standards of accuracy and fairness.
To the Toronto Star and Associated Press,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (www.cjpme.org) regarding the Associated Press article published in the Toronto Star titled: “Death toll in Gaza tops 73,000, says health ministry.”
The article specifies that “Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because militants operate in populated areas.”
However, 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.
In 2025, Israeli officials falsely alleged that martyred journalist Anas al-Sharif was affiliated with Hamas, a claim rejected by Al Jazeera, which affirmed that he had no such affiliation.
In November 2023, Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, was detained at a checkpoint by the Israeli occupation forces while travelling with a convoy of patients in ambulances after the Israeli army ordered him to evacuate the hospital. During his detention, which lasted seven months without charge nor trial, he was subjected to inhumane torture over unproven allegations that the hospital served as a Hamas command center, accusations he and other Palestinian health officials firmly denied.
Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia is one of countless cases in which unverified Israeli claims are used to justify killing Palestinians. Granted, even if armed groups were present - a claim never substantiated by the Israeli occupation forces - the presence of combatants in a civilian area does not give Israel impunity to kill Palestinians. Under the Geneva Conventions, the indiscriminate killing of civilians is a war crime.
In November 2023, during Israel's assault on Al Shifa hospital, the Israeli forces released more than 27 statements accusing the hospital of being used by Hamas. However, these accusations were unsupported by credible evidence, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was unable to independently verify them.
This is reflected in their November 8th, 2024 report:
All of this to say: “Israel says” is not reporting. Journalistic skepticism ought to be raised whenever Israel claims to be targeting militant groups in densely populated residential areas.
The Israeli forces have a history of using lies and misinformation as pretexts for their massacres. I therefore kindly request that the article be amended to raise skepticism around Israel’s unsubstantiated claims and to clarify that these Israeli allegations have not been independently verified in the interest of upholding journalistic standards of accuracy and fairness.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I await your response.
Lynn Naji
Media Analyst
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East