“Whoever deceives me once, that is his fault, but if he deceives me twice, that is my fault.” Writer Mehdi Hassan began his article in the British newspaper The Guardian with this proverb, in the context of his treatment of what he described as the “lies” of the Israeli government regarding the massacres and atrocities committed by its army against the defenseless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Gaza, and is echoed by the media and political elites in the West.

Since the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) attacked Israel on October 7, the far-right Israeli government and its “legions” of Western politicians and journalists promoting its lies have deceived them not once or twice, but several times, according to the article.

Hassan said that there are many lies, distortions, and falsehoods that are difficult to monitor all of them. This is like the rumor that Hamas beheaded 40 infants, or roasted children in ovens, or hung them on clotheslines, indicating that all of this was fabrication.

Another Israeli lie is that there is a hideout for “bad guys” - referring to Hamas fighters - under Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, and that surveillance cameras captured Palestinians claiming to be injured, which the author of the article considered a clear fabrication.

One of the falsehoods promoted by Israel is that it found a list of names of Hamas detainees hanging on a wall in the Rantisi Children’s Hospital in central Gaza City.

In his article, Hassan goes on to ask: What about the “documented” atrocities that Israeli forces were accused of committing and then denied, before it was later revealed that they were responsible for them, such as the flour massacre in February, the bombing of the displaced persons’ convoy in October, and the white phosphorus attack on southern... Lebanon in the same month?

In the face of the reality of massacres and atrocities in Gaza, the Israelis continue to repeat lies, while the political and media elites in the West continue to be deceived by this, according to what was stated in the article.

However, perhaps there was no Israeli lie more harmful, destructive and deadly - in the words of the writer - than the claim that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is responsible for providing aid in Gaza, is complicit with the Hamas movement.

However, what is worse is the claim that 12 employees of the agency participated in the Hamas attack on Israel, which Hassan considered in his article to be a lie that had dire consequences in laying the groundwork for a devastating and ongoing famine within the Gaza Strip.

The writer stated that "naive" politicians and critics were repeatedly deceived and continued to repeat and support the "false" Israeli narrative regarding UNRWA.

He gave an example of this to Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who posted 6 tweets on the X platform - formerly Twitter - between January and March, claiming that the agency “supports terrorism” and that it is “infiltrated by Hamas” and that “what At least 12 of its employees were involved in what he calls the “terrorist” attack that occurred on October 7.

There is David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, who also accused the agency of providing support to a "terrorist" organization.

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, a neoconservative, described UNRWA as “apparently infested by terrorists and their sympathizers and should be abolished.”

However, repeating lies was not limited to Republicans and right-wingers only, but also included a number of Democrats in the House of Representatives, according to the Guardian article.

Source: Guardian + Aljazeera