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 from the week bearing on Israel and the Middle East that media consumers should know.
1) A Tale of Two Economies: Israel versus Iran
Since October 2023, the main story shaping the Middle East has been Iran and its proxies – including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis – attacking Israel, seeking its destruction. Economic data shows just how catastrophically they have failed.
On May 4, the Iranian rial sunk to yet another record low on unofficial markets, with the U.S. dollar trading at around 1.9 million rials according to Iran International. Meanwhile, the Israeli shekel reached a 33-year high, trading at 2.9 shekels to the U.S. dollar.
Iran’s fossil fuel industry, blessed with some of the largest reserves in the world, is also facing extraordinary pressure. On May 2, Bloomberg reported that the regime has begun reducing oil production as its storage capacity is reaching its limits amidst the U.S. blockade. As of one week ago, nearly $5 billion in Iranian oil remained stuck in the Persian Gulf. Three days later, i24 News reported that Israel is aiding one of the world’s wealthiest nations, Germany, by providing it with surplus jet fuel and natural gas following a request for assistance.
According to a CNBC report, Israel’s economy is forecast to continue “outperform[ing] many major developed economies.” Meanwhile, as The Washington Institute’s Patrick Clawson wrote, “Iranians have suffered such extensive economic blows in recent years that their situation would not qualify as good even if an agreement is reached soon to decisively end the current conflict.”
Iran, which was already facing existential energy and water crises, saw its GDP shrink 1.5 percent in 2025. Even before the war, its GDP was expected to contract by another 6.1 percent in 2026. According to the Iranian regime itself, the war has caused some $270 billion in damages, “not including damage to military installations.”
While Israel is emerging stronger than ever, its enemies are teetering on the precipice of collapse.
While The New York Times recently covered the collapsing Iranian economy, outlets such as CNN, The Washington Post, and NBC News have left this story largely uncovered.
2) Board of Peace Warns Hamas Over Failure to Disarm
Under the terms of the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the latter was obligated to disarm and demilitarize. Predictably, the terrorist organization has done everything in its power to renege on the commitment. This may cost it everything.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza. (Courtesy: Board of Peace)
On May 5, the Times of Israel reported on a warning letter sent to Hamas by the Board of Peace, the supervisory board tasked with overseeing governance of Gaza and implementation of the ceasefire deal. The letter was authored by Nickolay Mladenov, the former United Nations official who now serves as the High Representative for Gaza on the Board of Peace, and Aryeh Lightstone, the Senior Advisor to the Board of Peace.
In the letter, Mladenov and Lightstone warned Hamas that “Israel will not be expected to halt attacks in Gaza or ensure humanitarian aid enters the Strip” if Hamas continues refusing to disarm. This follows Hamas’s failure to meet the April 11 deadline for the terrorist organization to accept the Board’s framework for negotiations for the disarmament process. It also comes after Israel gave the Board of Peace guarantees on implementing its side of the ceasefire deal.
No major Western media outlets have covered Mladenov and Lightstone’s letter.
3) Hezbollah’s Staggering Losses
It’s never a great time to be a terrorist, but the last three years have been an especially bad period for Hezbollah operatives. Between Hezbollah attacking Israel in October 2023 and the November 2024 ceasefire deal, an estimated 4,000-5,000 Hezbollah terrorists were killed by Israeli forces, figures that even Hezbollah quietly acknowledges could be accurate.
The toll has only gotten worse since Hezbollah broke the ceasefire on Mar. 2, 2026.
Officially, approximately 2,700 Lebanese have been killed over the last two months. Unfortunately, the Lebanese Health Ministry, which is led by a Hezbollah member, does not distinguish between civilians and terrorists. But three sources, “including two senior Hezbollah figures,” have admitted that the figure does not include all of Hezbollah’s casualties and, according to them, “thousands” of Hezbollah fighters have been killed since hostilities resumed.
Their claims are bolstered by open-source evidence. According to the Amit Terrorism and Intelligence Research Institute, the “photos and names of more than a thousand commanders of various ranks and operatives in different units appeared on social media accounts, including unofficial accounts identified with Hezbollah.”
Some days have been worse than others. Approximately 250 Hezbollah commanders and operatives were killed in just one operation on April 8, and another 150 on another round of strikes just before a new (shaky) ceasefire took effect on April 16. As of two days ago, 220 more Hezbollah terrorists have been killed in the last few weeks while violating the ceasefire.
While Reuters reported the story, the rest of mainstream Western media has been largely quiet on the subject.