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Curtis Houck
Curtis Houck currently serves as the managing editor of NewsBusters after almost two years as a news analyst in the Media Research Center’s News Analysis division. During that time, he served as the sole evening news analyst, chronicling the best and worst of the network evening newscasts, primetime cable shows, and late-night comedy programs.
Despite slowing back away from accepting Hamas’s lies and propaganda that Israel fired a rocket into a hospital (which was done by Islamic Jihad via a misfired rocket) and killed hundreds (which, at best, is dubious), ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today decided Friday to again shack up with the terrorist group by falsely claiming Israel had bombed a hospital crucial to the small numbers of Christians who live in Gaza.
But, by sun up, it was clear that wasn’t true. The great AG Hamilton and Open Source Intelligence Monitor both adroitly laid out the facts. Daily Wire senior writer Ryan Saavedra showed its location in a screenshot from Google Maps and pointed out that, even if the strike were true, “Israel warned all of these people to leave the area one week ago and Hamas told them all to stay there”, so “Hamas is responsible for this”.
Saavedra’s colleague Bree A Dail had a tweet calling this out:
Nonetheless, the liberal media had narratives to push.
ABC chief foreign correspondent Ian Pannell fretted that “situation is growing ever more dire whereas as many as one million people have been displaced” by “Israel’s aerial onslaught.”
“A section of one of the oldest churches in the region being used to shelter civilians reduced to rubble seen in this video circulating online,” he claimed before going to alleged footage in south Gaza with “[r]escuers digging out the dead with their bare hands.”
“And at a nearby hospital, dozens taking cover amid the sound of explosions. And close to a different hospital, Israel striking the same target here twice. The WHO now reporting 17 hospitals have been damaged in total, four no longer operational, with the UN saying those that are still open are at 150 per cent capacity,” he added.
Over on NBC, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel shared the dubious tale in both hours via this line: “And overnight, Gaza’s small Christian community says it too came under attack when a church where Christians were sheltering was hit.”
Before that, he bemoaned Israelis “attacking Gaza from the air with unprecedented force, flattening entire neighborhoods.”
To his credit, he pointed out that the Palestinian death toll of roughly 4,000 should be taken with a huge grain of salt since “the healthy ministry in Gaza…is run by Hamas.”
CBS Mornings didn’t offer up either angle, but they still had foreign correspondent Imtiaz Tyab on the case to still toe Hamas’s line:
But fears the already enormous death toll across the narrow Palestinian territory will skyrocket are only growing. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says nearly 4,000 have been killed, including around 1,500 children. At this hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, a little girl cries out for her mother. A deal struck by President Biden between Israel and Egypt to allow 20 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza remains in limbo as repairs to the southern border continue following repeated Israeli strikes. Israel has cuts off all supplies of food, waters, fuel, and electricity following Hamas’s attack. The lack of the most basic necessities has made life even more of a misery for the over two million Palestinians who remain trapped in the spiraling violence.
To see the relevant transcripts from October 20
ABC’s Good Morning America
October 20, 2023
7:09 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: New Developments; Humanitarian Crisis Growing in Gaza; Delivery of Desperately Needed Aid Hitting Roadblocks]
IAN PANNELL: The push for relief for Gaza coming as the situation is growing ever more dire whereas as many as one million people have been displaced. The territory, now in its tenth day without electricity, Gazans cut off from fuel, food, and water normally supplied through Israel. Gaza under siege and under fire from Israeli’s aerial onslaught. A section of one of the oldest churches in the region being used to shelter civilians reduced to rubble seen in this video circulating online. In the south of Gaza where the Israeli military told Palestinians to flee for their safety, a massive crater gouged into the ground. Rescuers digging out the dead with their bare hands. [EXPLOSION] And at a nearby hospital, dozens taking cover amid the sound of explosions. [EXPLOSION] And close to a different hospital, Israel striking the same target here twice. The WHO now reporting 17 hospitals have been damaged in total, four no longer operational, with the U.N. saying those that are still open are at 150 percent capacity. Doctors working around the clock sometimes using flashlights on their phones to see. 3,700 killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s retaliation for the brutal Hamas massacre. At least 1,400 murdered in Israel and 200 hostages taken, including Americans.
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NBC’s Today
October 20, 2023
7:07 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Israel on Verge of Ground Invasion]
RICHARD ENGEL: The Israeli military is already attacking Gaza from the air with unprecedented force, flattening entire neighborhoods. The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, says around 4,000 Palestinians have been killed so far. A ground assault would be much more deadly for Gazans. Risky for Israeli soldiers and could tip the region into a wider war, which is already expanding. Anger against Israel and the United States is spreading across the Muslim world. Demonstrations throughout the region today. Our crew in Gaza filmed at a hospital after what multiple witnesses say was an Israeli strike on a house where families were sheltering in southern Gaza, where Israel told Palestinians to go for safety. And overnight, Gaza’s small Christian community says it too came under attack when a church where Christians were sheltering was hit. The Israeli military says it’s investigating both incidents. Pain is growing on both sides of this conflict.
[…]
8:08 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Israel on Verge of Ground Invasion]
ENGEL: The Israeli military is already attacking Gaza from the air with unprecedented force, flattening entire neighborhoods. The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, says around 4,000 Palestinians have been killed so far. A ground assault would be much more deadly for Gazans. Risky for Israeli soldiers and could tip the region into a wider war, which is already expanding. Anger against Israel and the United States is spreading across the Muslim world. Demonstrations throughout the region today. Our crew in Gaza filmed at a hospital after what multiple witnesses say was an Israeli strike on a house where families were sheltering in southern Gaza, where Israel told Palestinians to go for safety. And overnight, Gaza’s small Christian community says it too came under attack when a church where Christians were sheltering was hit. The Israeli military says it’s investigating both incidents.
