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Dear Journalists: Don’t Lose Sight of Fundamental Questions Regarding Hamas

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating

As Tehran vows revenge on Israel for taking out a Hamas leader on Iranian soil, it’s important not to lose sight of the fundamental questions regarding Hamas. My fellow journalists especially need to hold the terror group accountable. Both truth and morality demand it.

When covering the current situation in Israel, though, many of my journalist colleagues remain myopic. They accept as fact what Hamas claims. Even though Hamas has been proved wrong on major claims, such as the one about the missile that misfired from Gaza into a hospital parking lot, a number of journalists simply repeat what the terror group says.

How many, though, actually have spoken to reps from Hamas? Not the lobbyists and influencers here in the West, but reps from Hamas itself? I repeatedly have tried to reach their front men, to pose a list of questions. At first, they did not respond. Now, their servers refuse my emails. I still have questions. I share them again in hope that other journalists will ask them.

Questions for Hamas

1) Why is Gaza running out of everything but weapons? 

2) You claim that your brutal attacks on Israelis are caused by mania stemming from perceived transgressions. If you are entitled to mania, why are Israelis not entitled to being enraged by your vicious attacks that defied both humanity and the laws of war? 

3) Under international law, when a civilian structure is used for military purposes, it becomes a military target; please explain why you stage your military operations from inside civilian structures, and then complain when Israel (after warning people to leave) targets the structures? 

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4) Please give a forensic accounting of how you spend the humanitarian aid money that is meant for civilians. 

5) Please explain what happened to the UN-supplied fuel that was meant for civilians, but was diverted to Hamas on October 16, 2023. 

6) About 90% of the water inside Gaza comes from Gaza; why, then, would it be a problem if Israel does not supply the remaining 10%?  

These questions are just the start of a long list. I implore my colleagues to ask them. And please keep in mind: You have a moral compass. Now is the time to use it.

Susan Katz Keating is the publisher and editor in chief of Soldier of Fortune.

About Susan Katz Keating

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