An Associated Press (AP) report published on Wednesday has drawn significant criticism, including from Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO), for its portrayal of Hezbollah terrorists as uninvolved survivors of Israel’s exploding pagers operation last September.
The report, which took testimony from victims of the covert Israeli operation, described Hezbollah as a “militant group” or “a major Shi’ite political party with a wide network of social institutions” instead of acknowledging its status as a terrorist organization, as designated by the United States and other countries. In fact, the report does not mention the word “terror.”
AP’s report centered on the aftermath of the covert Israeli operation in which more than 3,000 people were wounded and at least 12 were killed.
The operation involved two waves of simultaneous detonations targeting Hezbollah’s pagers and other electronic devices across Lebanon and Syria. It was aimed at incapacitating a large number of Hezbollah’s combat-ready ground forces and causing massive panic and disruption among its ranks.
A majority of the casualties were Hezbollah fighters, Hezbollah admitted, according to the report.
The report, which highlighted the plight of bystanders who were caught in the crossfire of the operation, said all the victims who were interviewed are either Hezbollah terrorists or personnel, or their direct relatives.
Among the individuals featured in the report was Mahdi Sheri, 23, a Hezbollah terrorist who was severely wounded during the attack. He had been ordered back to the front lines on the day of the attack. Before returning to battle, however, he spent some time with his family and charged his pager, which was not allowed to be used inside the house for security reasons.
When Sheri’s pager vibrated, he went to check it, and it exploded, AP reported. The blast resulted in the loss of his left eye, and he now has very limited vision in his right eye.
Sheri’s account highlighted the physical and emotional toll of his wounds. He can no longer play soccer and is undergoing rehabilitation.
Hezbollah is assisting him in finding a new job, as his ability to fight is now severely limited, Sheri said. He cannot return to a role alongside other Hezbollah fighters due to his physical limitations, he said.
“The community is shaken,” Sheri was quoted as saying. “Some children fear coming near their fathers... It not only affects us but also those around us.”
Israel slam's AP for sympathetic approach to accurate military operation
AP’s report was criticized for its sympathetic depiction of the victims and failing to adequately contextualize their affiliation with a terrorist group.
The GPO condemned the article for omitting key details about Hezbollah’s role in terrorism and for presenting a one-sided account of the operation, which it said downplayed the threat posed by Hezbollah.
AP’s reporting about the September attack came amid heightened scrutiny of media coverage on conflicts involving Israel and terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
International media outlets recently have put a spotlight on photos from the Gaza Strip, highlighting concerns of starvation due to a lack of humanitarian aid or efficient distribution.
Some widely circulated photos, such as those showing Gazan women and children holding pots and pans in front of food distribution sites, were staged, German newspaper BILD reported.
Additionally, a photo from Gaza featuring Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, a child who suffers from cerebral palsy, was featured last week in reports about mass starvation attributed to Israel’s actions by prominent media outlets such as The New York Times and CNN
However, when Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, respectively, published signs of life from Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, both looking emaciated, the same media outlets initially avoided sharing the footage and tied the development to stories about Israeli protests.