Extraordinarily effective Hamas propaganda has delegitimized Israel’s right of self-defense by confirming for a world that scorns Israel that its demon is engaged in genocide. It is not, but the same cannot be said of Hamas — the aggressor that has largely avoided that opprobrium.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 5.5 million Palestinians live in the Palestinian territories, principally the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The bureau estimates that in the last 12 months, Gaza’s population declined by 15,423 to 2,114,201. Meanwhile, “Palestine’s” total population grew by 1.17% in 2024 and is projected to grow by another 1.75% in 2025. According to the bureau, the principal factors in Gaza’s population decline were emigration, war casualties, and a declining birth rate.

If leftists prevent Israel from fighting an aggressor who has pledged to destroy it, targets civilians, and takes and murders hostages, who is complicit in genocide?

Though the Gaza Ministry of Health’s war casualty reports are statistically implausible and quietly rejected by the United Nations, the world’s media uncritically repeat the lies. Most recently, the media disseminated the ministry’s claim that war deaths exceed 60,000, reducing Gaza’s population by 10%. The actual comparison was to “projected growth”; 60,000 represents a 2.6% decline.

Peddling lies

Many outlets presented the ministry’s disinformation and malinformation as their objective reporting. For example, PBS explained:

The ministry is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. … Israel’s offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine.

The report added:

Israel’s offensive and its blockade have also gutted Gaza’s health system, with several hospitals having shut down and others only partially functioning as they receive waves of war-wounded.

Jaundiced by radical ideologies and anti-Semitism, and empowered by Hamas’ misdirection, at least 38 countries, the European Union’s second-ranking official, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, 14 members of Congress, and many others accuse Israel of genocide.

If Goebbels had Hamas propagandists on his side, we might all be shouting “Heil Hitler!”

In November, a U.N. special committee found Israel’s operations in Gaza “consistent” with genocide, including its alleged use of “starvation as weapon of war.” In July, the U.N. dishonestly announced that Gaza met two of the three criteria for famine. To reach that conclusion, the U.N., which has battered Israel for years, rigged the numbers.

On July 27, the World Health Organization warned that “malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip,” with 74 malnutrition-related deaths so far in 2025, most occurring in July. According to the WHO, “The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives.”

But just one week later, a U.N. agency reported that Palestinian mobs and terrorists are stealing 89% of aid shipments. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee added that “Hamas made half a billion dollars last year stealing food [and] selling it on the black market in order to finance their activities.”

Rigging stats

On August 22, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a partnership of 25 organizations including U.N. agencies, announced that “reasonable evidence” exists of famine in Gaza since August 15. An Israeli response observed that “the declaration was issued not only without evidence that would justify it under the IPC’s own criteria, but also in contradiction to more recent data that was publicly available.” Although the IPC report cited the interception of aid, it justified that as the “desperation” of residents.

Other studies (including the U.N.’s) have not found widespread famine, a deliberate starvation strategy, or systematic attacks by Israel on civilians. Severe pre-existing medical conditions cause most deaths attributed to malnutrition.

RELATED: Why does the mainstream media keep blaming Israel for Gaza’s humanitarian crisis?

Photo by Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu via Getty Images

Hamas propaganda deceives with pictures that are staged, taken in other countries, taken years ago, or taken of children with genetic defects. It also promotes fabricated claims of Israeli attacks on Gazans seeking aid, including the untrue tale of a Gazan boy allegedly killed by the IDF at an aid distribution site.

Except for an approximately three-month blockade, Israel has facilitated aid. It warns civilians of pending attacks, set up hundreds of food distribution centers and aid packages, and supports airdrops of up to 130 tons of food per day. Last month, Israel announced additional actions, including lengthy combat pauses to coordinate aid delivery with the U.N. and other organizations.

The U.N. charter guarantees the “inherent” right of defense. The U.N. Genocide Convention defines “genocide” as killing “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” If Israel wanted to destroy the Palestinian people, it would have done so.

Instead, the claimed dead, including Hamas’ human shields and those executed by Hamas, total under 1.1% of Gaza’s population, which continues to grow. According to West Point’s John Spencer, the leading expert on urban warfare, no military has ever done more than Israel to avoid civilian casualties. Israel’s increasingly precise targeting of combatants has achieved a lower civilian death rate than most wars over the last 100 years.

Double standards for Hamas

The Hamas charter states that Israel must be “obliterated” and that “Moslems must fight Jews and kill them.” Hamas targeted civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, and has launched thousands of rocket attacks since then.

If leftists and anti-Semites prevent Israel and Jews from fighting an aggressor who has pledged to destroy them, targets civilians, and takes and murders hostages, precisely who is complicit in genocide?

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.