If you’re following developments on the Israel-Hamas war, switch from one television news network to another to get all perspectives.
That’s what I started doing after I saw CNN, the American cable news network, at the start of the conflict echoing the position of the Israeli government and of United States President Joe Biden. There was no problem with the news reports as these were as accurate and unbiased as possible, but studio hosts and commentators were another matter.
I switched to Al Jazeera, the Qatari state-owned Arabic-language news television network. Al Jazeera presented the side of the Gaza people and Palestinian officials as it also reported the Israeli side.
Later in the conflict, and as the violence turned horrifying and the number of deaths rose, CNN began to present all sides as it became imperative to show what was happening.
It was not just social media that became problematic with the false information pushed by propagandists and conspiracy theorists in that war. Mainstream media also failed at some point.
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Why do women and children figure high in the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war?
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, that as hostilities entered the 13th day, the cumulative fatality toll in the Gaza Strip is at 3,785, including at least 1,524 children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. In addition, it estimated that hundreds of people, including women and children, are still trapped beneath the rubble, amid continuous Israeli airstrikes. It also reported some 1,400 Israeli fatalities and 79 more fatalities in the West Bank. The Ocha is the office responsible for maintaining a count on war victims and the destruction.
In most news reports on the war’s fatalities and casualties, there is mention of the number or percentage who are women or children or those below 18 years old. The focus on them is because they usually end up as the worst victims of war. They are vulnerable, have limited mobility, and often need immediate care but are unable to reach medical facilities.
The Red Cross said the health needs of women are often neglected and ignored in areas ravaged by conflict. In some war-torn areas, it added, women are at high risk of sexual violence, including rape. Reports of women hostages of Hamas being raped are examples of the horrors women face in war.
Women and children become the worst victims of war not only because they face gender-based violence but also are used as weapons of war, pawns at negotiating tables and towards attaining genocide.
How to stop this violence is to make the protection of women and children in war a priority, in particular by creating safe spaces for them and ensuring they have access to medical care. But the best solution, really, is to put an end to war.