Isael President Isaac Herzog called on what he described as “staging efforts” led by Hamas, and quoted recent investigative reports from leading German newspapers that revealed “false” images from Gaza affected by hunger.
During the visit to Tallinn on Wednesday, Isaac Herzog raised two photographs: one of the Israeli hostages Eviatar David; And another of the Rom Breslavský, who appeared in the recent Hamas video.
Herzog connected them to the now control image from Gaza, which was shown by Palestinians who held empty pots in front of the food distribution center.
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He also showed a photo in which the photographer could see what he said, “Stage people in Gaza to show that they lack food while there is food. It’s a effort.”
“I emphasized the hypocrisy of Hamas,” Herzog said in a post on X. “I showed evidence of Hamas PR campaign, with a recently published introduced photo of Gazans with empty food,” he added.
Accused the UN of “holding hundreds of trucks that fail to distribute”.
Herzog urged the international community to withstand the fall for such distortion.
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“We don’t deny the humanitarian need in Gaza,” he said, “But we ask the world not to fall on Hamas’s lies. Defend Hamas and tell them: Do you want to move forward? Relax hostages.”
He stressed that Israel drastically increased his efforts for humanitarian aid and said, “Only in the last week we brought 30,000 tons of help – 30 tonnes broadcast yesterday.
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German media exposed
Isaac Herzog’s remarks follow the revelation from Suddeutsch Zeitung, who has published an “exhibition” showing how Hamas uses the introduced images to influence international opinion.
In the last few days, there has been significant media attention on the reports of two German language documents – Bild and Süddeutsche Zeitung – that accuse printing photographers of Gaza for the production of starving civilians.
They emphasized “the problem of introduced photographs or photographs taken from context came,” said the Jerusalem post.
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The Bild report focused on a widely circulated photograph of desperate women and children Gazan, who holds pots and pans.
According to the investigation, it was found that professional photographers – some working with international intelligence agencies – have directed them to present civilians with empty pots and in fictional scenarios aimed at facilitating starvation.
“At least some of the pictures were presented in a false or misleading context,” he concluded.
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One such photographer who identified Bild as Anas Zayed Fatiyeh was hired by the Turkish state agency Anadol.
Manipulation of war photography was triggered by alarm in German press circles.
The German Association of Journalists (DJV) issued a statement on “Handling attempts through a professionally created press photo”.
DJV chairman Mika Beuster noted that “all parties involved in this war – including media and intelligence services – use the power of images like never before to form public perception.”
A historian and an expert in the visual documentation in which Suddeutsche Zeitung spoke that although not all such images are direct counterfeits, they are often “placed in a certain way or paired with misleading subtitles that connect to our visual memory and emotions”.
(With the entry from agencies)
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