Despite all of the video, photographic, and intercepted communication evidence that the blast at the Gaza hospital two weeks ago was the result of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket falling short, and that only dozens had died, MSNBC was more than happy to be a mouthpiece for Hamas terrorists. During Tuesday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, MSNBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel breathlessly reported that a newer blast was “on the level of the hospital explosion” and left “hundreds” dead.
Engel, a long-time Israel hater, began his report by scoffing at the idea that Israel had created a safe zone for civilians. “No civilian has to die. Hamas merely has to let them go to the safe zone that we created in southeastern Gaza Strip. There's a safe zone there,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the soundbite MSNBC took issue with.
Ignoring how Netanyahu said the safe zone was in the “southeast,” Engel bloviated about air strikes in a different part of the Gaza Strip. “And there have been many strikes on Khan Yunis. There have been many strikes all across southern Gaza. And they are happening on a daily basis,” he huffed. He also cited the United Nations as an unbiased source to confirm what he was saying, despite the U.N. condemning Israel and not Hamas terrorists who butchered Israeli civilians.
He then boasted about how he was getting his information from unnamed sources inside the Gaza Strip:
Every day we’ve been in touch with our teams in southern Gaza. They have been going to buildings that have been flattened. They have been showing children pulled from the rubble. A lot of the pictures that we have been putting on NBC, some of the most disturbing pictures of the aftermath of strikes, have been in southern Gaza. So, the idea that there is this perfect place in the South where they could just go and be fine and get away from the war simply is not true when we talk to our people on the ground who we have known for many years.
These sources were likely locals and there’s a strong possibility that they had ties to Hamas.
He then pivoted to the blast in question, which purportedly occurred in Jabalia in northern Gaza, and breathlessly parroted the assessment of the Palestinian Health Ministry. The same Hamas-controlled ministry that lied to the world that upwards of 900 people were killed at the hospital two weeks ago.
“It was a massive strike. Palestinian medical officials are talking about hundreds of dead and injured. It's on the level of the hospital explosion,” Engels proclaimed as if the claims about the hospital blast were true. He also seemed to boast that the supposed strike could “change the course of the conflict” or “expand the war” Israel was forced into.
Speaking about the images he saw from the blast site, Engel noted: “[T]hey show an area right in the center of Jabalia that has been hit by what seems to be bunker-busting bombs. Huge ordinates that dug craters in the ground. I counted three massive craters that seem to be 50 or 60 feet deep. And all of the buildings around them are severely damaged.”
That description flew in the face of his assertion that it was on the same scale as the hospital blast, which occurred in the parking lot and left behind a small hole and minimal damage to the surrounding area. And more trustworthy assessments had the death toll between 10 and 50.
Engel openly scoffed at the fact that Hamas intentionally built its terrorist infrastructure around and under civilian locations. “The Israeli military has not commented specifically on it but an Israeli military spokesman, a short while ago blamed Hamas, said Hamas is using people as civilian shields. The same kind of arguments we heard before,” he dismissed.
He wrapped up his report by seemingly suggesting Israel was intending to kill civilians. “But again, if you drop enormous ordinates into one of the most densely populated areas in the world, the only result I think you can receive -- you can expect is an enormous casualty count,” he proclaimed.
Ahead of Engel’s pro-Hamas rhetoric, host Andrea Mitchell argued that it was the Israeli military that was endangering the hostages Hamas took. “Israeli Defense Forces say their military activities in Gaza are intensifying while there are still 240 hostages in harm's way,” she declared. As an afterthought, she admitted: “[T]hey did rescue one hostage yesterday, a female Israeli soldier.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports
October 31, 2023
12:04:50 p.m. Eastern(…)
ANDREA MITCHELL: This afternoon, the Senate is expected to confirm former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as the next U.S. Ambassador to Israel, as Israeli Defense Forces say their military activities in Gaza are intensifying while there are still 240 hostages in harm's way. Although, they did rescue one hostage yesterday, a female Israeli soldier.
Joining me now, NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, Ambassador Denis Ross, former U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, and a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near-East policy, and retired four-star Army General Barry McCaffrey.
So, Richard, first to you. I want to start with the situation on the ground and play something else we heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.
[Cuts to video]
P.M. NETANYAHU (Israel): No civilian has to die. Hamas merely has to let them go to the safe zone that we created in southeastern Gaza Strip. There's a safe zone there. Not a single civilian has to die.
[Cuts back to live]
MITCHELL: Richard, despite his claim yesterday and his defiance of American calls for a pause -- not a cease-fire but a pause to get more humanitarian aid in, your teams on the ground in Gaza are not finding safe zones, because you say they have come under attack in the south. Tell us what you’re seeing.
RICHARD ENGEL: So, not just our teams on the ground. The United Nations has said repeatedly there are no safe areas in Gaza. There are two main population centers in the Gaza strip. There's the greater area of Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south. And there have been many strikes on Khan Yunis. There have been many strikes all across southern Gaza. And they are happening on a daily basis. So, the idea that if suddenly Palestinians were able to pick up and go to the south, that everything would be fine, just simply is not true.
Every day we’ve been in touch with our teams in southern Gaza. They have been going to buildings that have been flattened. They have been showing children pulled from the rubble. A lot of the pictures that we have been putting on NBC, some of the most disturbing pictures of the aftermath of strikes, have been in southern Gaza. So, the idea that there is this perfect place in the south where they could just go and be fine and get away from the war simply is not true when we talk to our people on the ground who we have known for many years.
The big story today is in northern Gaza and that is where the fighting is more intense and in Jabalia in particular. And just several hours ago, there was an attack, an Israeli series of strikes that could -- I don't want to say change the course of the conflict, but could bring -- it could expand the war, frankly. It was a massive strike. Palestinian medical officials are talking about hundreds of dead and injured. It's on the level of the hospital explosion that was -- happened under disputed circumstances but which undeniably caused protests and uprisings in cities from Islamabad all the way to Morocco.
Jabalia is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. This is the Jabalia refugee camp. It's about one square mile, more than 100,000 people living in it. And the images of the aftermath are horrific. And they are broadcasting live on all of the Arabic-language news channels. They are getting wall-to-wall coverage.
And they show an area right in the center of Jabalia that has been hit by what seems to be bunker-busting bombs. Huge ordinates that dug craters in the ground. I counted three massive craters that seem to be 50 or 60 feet deep. And all of the buildings around them are severely damaged. And in this image that like I said is getting full coverage around the Arab world and possibly Islamic world in general, is of people climbing on the debris, looking for dead and injured. Victims carrying out dead children from the surrounding buildings. Horrific images.
The Israeli military has not commented specifically on it but an Israeli military spokesman, a short while ago blamed Hamas, said Hamas is using people as civilian shields. The same kind of arguments we heard before. That Hamas builds up its military infrastructure around urban areas and that perhaps there was some sort of subterranean structure under these buildings that were hit in Jabalia, and that it caused a collapse and a greater loss of life than Israel had been anticipated. That is possible.
But again, if you drop enormous ordinates into one of the most densely populated areas in the world, the only result I think you can receive -- you can expect is an enormous casualty count.
(…)
