Famously, the slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print” graces the front page of every New York Times edition. The slogan was coined at the end of the 19th century by the paper’s publisher, Adolph Ochs. Of course, in today’s hyper-globalized world, the slogan is wishful thinking. No paper could realistically cover all the important news stories of the day.
Still, it would be hard to argue that outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and others adequately cover even those stories they do print. They often devote precious space to emotive or opinionated claims, while omitting highly material and relevant information that sheds important new light.
Provided below are three important, but underreported, stories bearing on Israel and the Middle East that media consumers should know this week.
1) Hamas Using Gaza Hospitals and Schools to Torture Palestinians
During the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli military repeatedly operated in or around hospitals in Gaza, alleging Hamas used them for military purposes, to hide hostages and/or because it built command centers underneath. Evidence also emerged that the terror organization similarly exploited schools and other civilian infrastructure, part of Hamas’ long use of its human shield strategy.
Israel haters (including “United Nations experts” such as terror apologist and rape denier Francesca Albanese) denied Hamas’ exploitation of civilians, particularly claiming that operations in and around hospitals were simply an Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) campaign to kill health care workers. There was similar critique of IDF activity at schools, despite overwhelming evidence Hamas was likewise using schools.
Additional evidence documenting Hamas’ use of civilian infrastructure for its military purposes surfaced this week – this time from Gazans themselves. This week, Washington Free Beacon reported that video testimonials and official documents reveal that Hamas has reclaimed al-Shifa, al-Aqsa Martyrs, Nasser, and al-Ma’amadani hospitals, as well as some schools. The terror organization is converting classrooms into prisons and detention centers where it subjects Gazans to beatings and other torture methods.
One Gazan told the Free Beacon that Hamas abducted him and beat him for several days in rooms inside schools repurposed as prisons. He charged that the terror group is exploiting hospital basements for the same purpose. A second Gazan said that at Nasser hospital’s dialysis center, Hamas beats and shoots people in the legs. A third said Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades abducted his adult son and hid him in several hospitals for two months, where terror operatives beat him with clubs, hitting his teeth, nose, hands, and legs, and also gagged him.
According to witnesses, Hamas does not hide its activities at al-Aqsa hospital and, in fact, summons its victims to come to the hospital for interrogation. The Free Beacon confirmed this information via official documents from the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
Rather than disarm and relinquish power so that Palestinians can rebuild their homes and lives in Gaza according to the Trump Peace Plan, Hamas is reestablishing control, re-commandeering civilian infrastructure including hospitals and schools, and ensuring Gazans’ lives remain tortured and miserable.
2) Israeli Diplomacy is Not ‘Tudo Bom’ in Brazil
Nine years ago, former Israeli pop duo Static & Ben El released a hit song called “Tudo Bom” – Portuguese for “everything is good.” The song has both Hebrew and Portuguese lyrics and received a commendation at the time from Brazil’s ambassador to Israel for its positive cultural impact. Today, “tudo bom” does not describe diplomatic relations between Israel and Brazil.
This week, Ynet reported that Brazilian President Lula da Silva refuses to approve Vivian Eisen’s appointment as Israel’s consul general in São Paulo. This undiplomatic reception follows his previous refusal to approve Gali Dagan as Israel’s ambassador to Brazil and his May 2025 recall of Brazil’s ambassador to Israel. President Lula has been one of the world’s harshest world leaders criticizing Israel following the Oct. 7 massacre, having accused the Jewish state of genocide in Gaza and comparing Israel’s actions to those of Nazis.
The current consul general, Rafi Erdreich, is due to return to Israel in a few weeks as his already extended term concludes, which means Israel will have neither an ambassador nor a consul general in Brazil. The São Paulo consulate is the only diplomatic mission Israel has in all of Brazil, leaving relations to be managed by junior diplomats.
No change in the two countries’ relations is expected before the October presidential election in Brazil, when President Lula, 80, will run against Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former pro-Israel President Jair Bolsonaro.
3) For the French Film Community, There Are No Acceptable Israelis
For those who hate Israel, no Israeli is acceptable. The latest high-profile example of this boycott of an entire people was easy to miss outside of entertainment media, European news reports or Jewish/Israeli media outlets like the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA).
Israeli film director Nadav Lapid, a critic of the Israeli government who left Israel for France in 2021, was forced to pull out of the upcoming FID Marseille international film festival. Bigots first complained of his planned participation in the festival as a jury member, resulting in his demoted role presenting his 15-year-old film and hosting a book signing. (According to the JTA, the festival organizer reduced his participation because she feared for his safety, not because she supports boycotting him.) But even that reduced role was too much according to the sensitivities of approximately a dozen pro-Palestinian filmmakers who, according to the JTA, withdrew their films in protest. As a result, Lapid was forced to pull out entirely.
Lapid speaking about his boycott from the Marseille International Film Festival
Several hundred defended Lapid, including Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman, who signed a letter calling Lapid’s boycott “an intellectual failure” and said that filmmakers should not be threatened with erasure because of their government’s “crimes,” particularly since these filmmakers are often the most critical.
Reportedly, the objections to Lapid’s participation stem from his receipt of partial funding for his 2025 film from the “Israel Film Fund.” This Fund is Israel’s primary source of financing films by Israelis, including Israeli Arabs who self-identify as Palestinians. The Fund is independent of the government, but those who objected to his participation viewed it as an arm of Israel.
Lapid supports “genuine political sanctions against the Israeli state.” But his professional peers still deem him unworthy of judging a film festival. For those who hate Israel, nothing you can say or do will ever be enough to gain acceptance.