Amid the ongoing Israel war on Hamas, the terrorist-run Gaza health officials' narrative has permeated Reuters and The Associated Press, and now The Washington Post has been called out, accused of taking the terrorists' side over the wistful hope of a family of a hostage still held in Gaza.
"The Washington Post is an absolute disgrace," a Jewish journalist posted Friday on X. "These Israeli parents have every right to focus on returning their son from a Hamas dungeon from a war they started when they kidnapped him.
"Instead WaPo cites Hamas statistics and a Hamas narrative to demonize them."
American-Israeli citizens Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of hostage Omer Neutra, gave a speech at the Republican National Convention this week. A Washington Post reporter chronicled their day.
"Omer Neutra, an American hostage in the Israel-Hamas war, has been missing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel," the Post reported in a post on X accompanying a link to a story. "When his parents speak publicly, they don't talk about Israel's assault on Gaza that has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to local officials. Experts have warned of looming famine."
When social media users widely condemned the post, saying the media outlet shared Hamas terrorist propaganda, the Post deleted the initial post on X and changed the second and third sentences when it reposted the link to the story.
The Health Ministry, which provides the numbers cited by media outlets, is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza and does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths in the numbers it puts out.
Even the Biden administration has admitted the Palestinian death totals are not to be trusted, are unconfirmed, and do not reflect the deaths of terrorist fighters and supporters targeted by Israel since the terrorists use Gaza people as human shields.
"His parents have mounted a relentless effort to get him released, speaking to anyone who might be able to support their cause," reads the new post on X from the Post.
But even then, social media users pointed out, the Post failed to acknowledge Neutra is a hostage, stating only that the American-Israeli citizens' son is "missing."
"Even after updating their offensively misleading tweet, @washingtonpost still insisted on saying that 22-year-old American hostage, Omer Neutra, has been 'MISSING' since October 7th," the Embassy of Israel to the USA posted on X.
"This isn't a game of hide and seek.
"Omer was KIDNAPPED to GAZA by HAMAS TERRORISTS and has been held captive in unimaginable conditions for over 9 months."
The Neutra family has backed Republican nominee Donald Trump's support for Israel achieving its three stated goals in achieving victory over Hamas: 1. Return all hostages; 2. Destroy Hamas; 3. Demilitarize and deradicalize Gaza.
"Contrary to @washingtonpost credibility which has been missing for some years now, Omer Neutra was taken hostage, just like the Post's morality, by Hamas on October 7th," Viktor Hardason posted Friday on X.
Another relative of a hostage was equally outraged at the Post's backing terrorist propaganda.
"Omer Neutra isn't missing," Moshe Emilio Lavi posted to X, sharing outrage over even the updated Post social media post. "Omer Neutra was kidnapped by Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian terrorist organization, and their accomplices on October 7.
"Hamas still holds 120 hostages, including my brother-in-law Omri Miran, and the @washingtonpost keeps propagating their narrative."
The Post is historically supportive of Democrats and their presidents, Republicans allege. The newspaper's reporting on Watergate led to then-President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Trump, who for years has called out what he considers the Post's anti-GOP propaganda, gave a stern warning to Hamas and Palestinians during his RNC speech, saying there will be a "very big price" to pay for the continued holding of American hostages.
"The entire world, I tell you this, we want our hostages back, and they better be back before I assume office or you will be paying a very big price," Trump said in an off-script moment during in his speech in Milwaukee on Thursday night, which aired live and in its entirety on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 streaming platform.
"With our victory in November, the years of war, weakness, and chaos will be over. I didn't have wars. I had no wars other than ISIS, which I defeated, but that was a war that was started.
"We had no wars. I could stop wars with a telephone call. I could stop wars with just a telephone call. If properly stated, it would never start."