TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned the lack of attention in Western media to Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza, warning that the declining coverage of the humanitarian catastrophe is allowing the suffering of Palestinians to fade from public view. In a post on his X account, Araghchi described the situation as a “silent genocide,” criticizing the near-total absence of media coverage of the unfolding crisis.
“The disastrous situation in Gaza is no longer making headlines in Western media,” he wrote. “A silent genocide is going on with almost zero attention. It is shameful, and an indication that Israel has succeeded in one aspect of its effort to start wars to divert attention from its failures,” the Iranian foreign minister added. The worsening floods in Gaza have further exposed the devastating impact of the destruction of the territory’s infrastructure during Israel’s military campaign.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, heavy rainfall has flooded or damaged around 70,000 displacement tents, affecting approximately 350,000 people. In some areas, floodwaters have reportedly reached depths of 1.5 meters. More than 700 kilometers of sewage networks have also been destroyed, while acute shortages of fuel and rescue equipment have severely hampered emergency services’ ability to respond to the crisis.
The Tehran Times reports Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's X post condemning Western media silence on Gaza, quotes him accurately and attributes the flood figures to Gaza's Government Media Office. It names Israel's military campaign as the cause of the destroyed infrastructure. Its one gap is minor: it reports acute fuel and equipment shortages without saying that Israel's restrictions keep such supplies out, which the outlet itself reported days earlier.
Hides who did it
Minor
“acute shortages of fuel and rescue equipment have severely hampered emergency services’ ability to respond to the crisis”
Why this matters
The words "acute shortages of fuel and rescue equipment" present the shortages as a bare condition, with no one responsible for them.
The impression it gives
A reader may take the fuel and equipment shortages as a side effect of the floods and past destruction, not as the result of supplies being kept out of Gaza now.
The context
The Tehran Times reported five days earlier that Palestinian authorities and aid groups blame Israel's restrictions on fuel, tents and building materials, and Press TV's report on the same statement says Israel is blocking humanitarian aid, including winter supplies. The article names Israel for the destruction in S6 but not for the ongoing restrictions.
The outlet names Israel's assault on Gaza as genocidal in its own voice, consistent with the UN Commission of Inquiry's finding (R1), and does not hedge it as an allegation.
“the destruction of the territory’s infrastructure during Israel’s military campaign”
It names the actor behind the destruction that left displaced families exposed to the floods, so the flooding is not told as a natural disaster alone.
“According to Gaza’s Government Media Office”
It attributes the flood figures to Gaza's civilian institution by name, with no Hamas-run qualifier attached to undermine them.