Dozens of Yom Hazikaron Corrections: Hamas, Not Israel, Launched War

April 30, 2025

Thousands of international Masa Israel Journey participants attend a Yom Hazikaron ceremony outside the Latrun Tank Museum, central Israel, April 29, 2025 (Photo by Adrianne Sternthal)

Today, on Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s solemn day to commemorate fallen soldiers and victims of terror, CAMERA’s Israel office prompted corrections at dozens of American news sites after a United Press International wire service article falsely claimed that Israel had started war with Hamas in October 2023.

The UPI wire service by Darryl Coote today misreports (“Britain, U.S. attack Houthi drone manufacturing targets in Yemen“):

The Trump administration has been seeking — through military strikes and sanctions — to dismantle a military blockade the Houthis erected in mid-November 2023, a month after Israel launched a full-scale war against Hamas, another Iran-proxy militia, in Gaza. 
The Houthis have attacked hundreds of ships transiting the important trade route, including U.S. military vessels, claiming they are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, tens of thousands of whom have been killed in Israel’s war. [Emphases added.]
Israel did not launch a war against the terror organization. The opposite occurred. Hamas launched a war against Israel, with its Oct. 7, 2023 mass invasion and rampant war crimes, including murder, rape, kidnapping, torture, mutilations and looting. Therefore, this is Hamas’ war, not “Israel’s war.” The article egregiously fails to acknowledge Hamas’ devastating invasion of Israel and the terror group’s widespread atrocities which started the war.
While UPI has yet to respond to CAMERA’s request to correct, McClatchy commendably and responsibly amended UPI’s story on the some two dozen U.S. news sites under its ownership. McClatchy’s sites now accurately report:

The Trump administration has been seeking — through military strikes and sanctions — to dismantle a military blockade the Houthis erected in mid-November 2023, a month after Israel launched a full-scale strike against Hamas, another Iran-proxy militia, in Gaza. The Israelis’ action came shortly after Hamas crossed the border, killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.

The Houthis have attacked hundreds of ships transiting the important trade route, including U.S. military vessels, claiming they are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, tens of thousands of whom have been killed in the war. [Emphases added.]

Separately, media outlets which previously corrected after similarly misattributing responsibility to Israel for starting the war include Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter. Stay tuned for any updates about a UPI correction.

May 5 Update: UPI Nominally Improves Article, Adds Mention of Hamas’ Oct. 7 Attacks

On April 30, UPI nominally improved its article, adding the text which appears in bold below.

The Trump administration has been seeking — through military strikes and sanctions — to dismantle a military blockade the Houthis erected in mid-November 2023, a month after Israel launched a full-scale war in Gaza against Hamas in response to the Iran-proxy militia’s surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Unlike McClatchy’s commendable and thorough fix, UPI’s changes provides zero indication as to the huge scale or brutal nature of Hamas’ Oct. 7 mass invasion and widespread atrocities, whitewashing it merely as the “surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.” The wire service’s newer language also continues to deny that Hamas’ mass invasion and orgy of war crimes — as opposed to Israel’s response — marked the launch of war. McClatchy, in contrast, had carefully rectified this egregious misreporting by substituting “Israel launched a full-scale strike against Hamas” for “Israel launched a full-scale war in Gaza against Hamas.” Finally, UPI’s amended article, unlike McClatchy’s version, continues to tendentiously and misleadingly refer to “Israel’s war.”

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