MSNBC host Yasmin Vossoughian pressed a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces on the lives lost “because of Israeli rocket fire,” but the conversation turned to criticism of the news outlet’s own reporting on the war in the Middle East.
“We try to strike militants, contrary to what the subhuman terrorists, these ISIS monsters that came across the border did. They specifically targeted our women, children, elderly, men, and soldiers but specifically the civilians,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said on Monday about Israel’s counteroffensive against the Hamas terror organization.
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MSNBC’s @yasminv tries to draw a false parity between Israel and Hamas, falsely suggesting Israel is using indiscriminate “rocket fire” to hit women and children like Hamas.
IDF spox @jconricus sets her straight, noting that Hamas targets civilians, while the IDF works to warn. pic.twitter.com/xHO5LiVMdo— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 23, 2023
He continued, “We are not targeting the civilians. Unfortunately, the civilians are in the battle space. We are doing our best to get them out of harm’s way. We have called on them to evacuate. Those who listen to us have a much better chance of safety. Those who do not, unfortunately, they are at risk. We will still try to operate according to the laws of our country and distinguish between combatants and noncombatants.”
The MSNBC host pressed the spokesman on how Palestinians “don’t feel safe” despite the IDF telling them to “move south.”
Conricus responded that Hamas has strategically used “the civilian infrastructure” to hide behind, which has caused many of the casualties.
“Hamas endangered civilians by their operations. They have tunnels underneath the civilian population and their leaders, which we are actively hunting, and they are trying to use human shields to protect themselves. That is the biggest contributor to the sad reports of casualties,” the IDF spokesman said.
He then questioned the media coverage of the causalities: “I want to say one more thing when it comes to data coming out of Gaza. Please keep in mind that everything that comes out of Gaza is not verified independently. It’s information disseminated by Hamas, and Hamas is the equivalent of ISIS when it comes to truthfulness.”
“Colonel, are you disputing the number of people that have been killed in Gaza, the number of women and children? Are you disputing that and saying it’s not accurate?” the MSNBC host asked.
“I am definitely questioning each and every piece of information that comes out of the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health — each and every piece of information — I will give you an example,” the colonel said.
Vossoughian interrupted, “But many of these are being reported by independent journalists that are in the region as well.”
Conricus responded by taking aim at media outlets repeating Hamas talking points, including MSNBC.
“Let me give an example. I think it will be useful. The first reports, also reported here on MSNBC but in many other media outlets, quoting the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, said 500 dead Palestinians in the hospital incident in Gaza,” he said.
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The IDF spokesman argued, “Do you know how many people were actually killed? The EU estimates that it was between 10 and 50. The 500 is what the Hamas-controlled authority said, and most of the international media fell for that and reported it. It gave credibility to a false number disseminated by a terrorist organization.”
“That is why I say that we should all exercise caution and skepticism when we get these figures, especially when they speak about civilians, women, and children. Those are the things that they will try to harvest. That is what they are trying to achieve,” Conricus warned.
