It didn’t take long for the mask to slip. As Israel and Hamas begin to implement the first phase of President Trump’s brokered peace deal—hostage releases, prisoner exchanges, military repositioning—the mainstream media, once again, has revealed exactly where its sympathies lie. And it’s not with the victims of terror.
With nearly choreographed precision, media voices have shifted the narrative—not to reflect the brutal reality of what sparked the last two years of conflict, but to recast those who launched rockets into schools and slaughtered civilians as the misunderstood and oppressed. Somehow, the terrorists have become the victims.
WATCH: NBC’s Daniele Hamamdjian says at 137am Eastern Palestinians now “have their land” back that “they have fought for — for — for decades” even if “they have nothing [else] to go back to” and will welcome home their own “hostages” from Israeli custody…
“October 31st, 2023,… pic.twitter.com/ORB0lntQGo
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 13, 2025
One segment stood out in particular. A journalist, reporting near Ofer Prison in the West Bank, solemnly detailed the upcoming release of 2,000 Palestinians in exchange for hostages held by Hamas. But the framing was unmistakable—and troubling. Listeners were reminded that Gaza has become a “graveyard for children,” that these prisoners include minors, doctors, nurses, and journalists who have been held without charge. What didn’t make the cut? The cause and effect of this crisis. The October massacres. The suicide bombings. The indoctrination of children into martyrdom cults. The fact that Hamas deliberately embeds itself among civilians to invite precisely these narratives.
We were told that 250 “security prisoners” were convicted murderers—some serving multiple life sentences. That’s not a minor detail. That’s the kind of information that used to end a conversation. Now, it’s a footnote, smoothed over in a broader tale of supposed moral equivalence.
And what about the others? Those 1,700 held under Israel’s administrative detention laws? The implication is clear: these individuals are “hostages” too, and Israel—somehow—is no different from Hamas. This is the sleight of hand. The subtle inversion. One side kidnaps women and children during a ceasefire and parades them through tunnels. The other, in the midst of an intelligence war, detains individuals with known terror ties or connections to planned attacks—some of whom have already returned to terrorism upon release in previous exchanges.
Let’s not forget: administrative detention, however controversial, exists because of the nature of asymmetric warfare and the frequent lack of publicly admissible evidence that can be shared without compromising sources. It’s a reality of counter-terrorism, not a human rights violation. And yet, this practice is now being used to equate the IDF with Hamas executioners.
Holy shit, @NBCNews.
This is disgusting. https://t.co/z3q9d9PrOZ
— RBe (@RBPundit) October 13, 2025
We are told it’s about “land,” about “return,” about “resistance.” But what’s too often omitted is that Hamas doesn’t seek land—it seeks elimination. Their charter is not about statehood, but about annihilation. Two years of conflict weren’t born from border disputes—they were born from rockets, kidnappings, and calculated propaganda.
And yet, Western journalists, desperate to appear morally nuanced, can’t stop painting both sides in the same shade of gray.
The result? Viewers walk away thinking there’s no difference between a terrorist in a tunnel and a journalist in a holding cell. That’s not nuance. That’s narrative laundering.
