Hamas is the cause of Gaza's predicament
The situation in Gaza is 'intolerable and appalling', the Prime Minister told MPs. Whose fault is that? Sir Keir Starmer laid the blame at Israel's door, whereas just a few months ago culpability would have been attached to Hamas.
The terror group has got precisely what it wanted: international opinion has turned against Israel and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu must take steps to make sure they are not aiding and abetting this. He and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) must avoid turning a just cause – the defence of their homeland from the murderous predations of its enemies – into a diplomatic coup for the perpetrators.
Hamas thinks nothing of using hospitals, schools or other civilian buildings to house its command posts, knowing they will be targeted by the IDF seeking to extirpate the group's command structure. Inevitably civilians are killed, but the terrorist group considers them expendable.
Now, Hamas is using the efforts to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians to further its media campaign against Israel. It is no longer able to control the delivery of food and other emergency supply because Jerusalem has cut the United Nations out of the loop. The reason for this is that when the UN ran the convoys they were intercepted by Hamas which then sold the goods at marked up prices. Israel's attempts to stop this has led to riots at aid posts, with the IDF firing on queues.
This is reported by the BBC with little in the way of context. Of course, it is appalling to see civilians die in these circumstances and a ceasefire deal on terms set out by the US – accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas – would be the best way forward.
But such an outcome is increasingly difficult to achieve when the BBC's narrative that Israel is always in the wrong permeates into the political discourse. The Trump administration has criticised the Corporation for accepting Hamas's word at face value, something BBC chiefs deny. Israel is also furious with what it considers to be biased reporting.
The BBC invariably reports the worst of Israel, only to add the caveat that it cannot verify reports because it is denied access to Gaza. This makes it naively vulnerable to Hamas propaganda, which it seems all too ready to swallow.
There is a way around this, which is for Israel to lift its ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza independently to let them see for themselves.
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