Thirty-thousand Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza. It's a number you hear everywhere when talking about Israel's war against Hamas, and it is pointed to as the reason Israel must commit to a ceasefire.

President Joe Biden recently said: "You can't have another 30,000 Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after (Hamas)." Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X that "the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 30,000—a large majority women and children... This horrific violence and suffering must end. Ceasefire."

The fact that the number comes from Hamas makes no difference to any of these world leaders, even though none of them would ever think of quoting al Qaeda or ISIS about their own death tolls during past American or British operations. In fact, many publications merely refer to the Gaza Health Ministry as if it was an independent agency without an agenda of its own.

But it does.

The job of the ministry is not to help Gazans, but rather to supply numbers that suit a terrorist regime in battle for the world's hearts and minds. Within minutes of any Israeli attack, the ministry, knowing that it will be immediately cited by media and world leaders, is ready with numbers of the injured and the dead, reaching into a hat for the figures, rather than doing the hard job of getting the facts........

© Newsweek