Israeli lawmaker criticizes media outlets for being played by Hamas's media warfare

Danny Danon, Israel's former ambassador to the U.N. and current member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, joined "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy" to warn of the dangers of misinformation as the Israel-Hamas war intensifies. 

"Truth, it has been said, is the first casualty of war, and some media outlets are proving just that," Gowdy prelude Sunday night, with Danon adding that Hamas' strategic warfare includes knowing how to "play with the media." 

Danon insisted, however, that while Hamas will "continue to lie" in its messaging, Israel "will continue to fight" on the battlefield. 

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"Our enemies lie all the time. You mentioned the hospital, they lied about the number of casualties," Danon said. "You know, it was maybe a dozen people who died, and they said 500 people, and they lied about the source, they blamed Israel and many networks immediately adopted their version. So I think the audience should be smart, should understand that it's part of the warfare of the terrorists, to play with the media, and they became very good at it."

Last week, the Hamas-backed Gaza Health Ministry blamed an explosion that occurred at the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on the Israeli Defense Forces. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CBS News and "Squad" member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., followed suit by publishing posts suggesting Israel was at fault.

The Israel Defense Force determined the blast was caused by a rocket misfire launched by Islamic Jihad, another terrorist organization active in Gaza. President Biden also publicly revealed that data he had seen from the U.S. Department of Defense assured him Israel was not to blame. Some news organizations that repeated Hamas’ claim that Israel was at fault have since walked it back.

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Beyond the media battlefield, Gowdy asked Danon if there was a reason behind the "delay from the time of the attacks by Hamas until the ground offensive?"

Danon assured that Israel is determined to eradicate Hamas.

 "We will do it. I can guarantee to you, but we take the time to prepare. We don't care how long it will take. We will go in. We will hunt them down and we will eliminate them. Period," Danon said.

"I called the troops today and I told the commanders, take your time, don't risk our troops when you go in, do what you have to do in order to eliminate Hamas and also, we allow the population in northern Gaza to move south. And 70% of the population already moved south. And we hope that more people will move south because Hamas is hiding behind those civilians, and we hope to minimize the number of civilian casualties."

FOX News’ Kristine Parks, Brandon Gillespie, Houston Keene and Brian Flood contributed to this report.

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