ABC News (US), on Gaza, 16 October 2026

3.0out of 10Minor

Burly men in Gaza pull trucks and flip tires in competition of strength

Tap a highlight to see why it matters.2 findings

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- No day in Gaza is normal, but Friday stood out for its shouts of delight as athletes pulled trucks, flipped massive tires and heaved weights in a strength competition that drew cheering crowds. Children and women perched on and watched competitors of the Palestine Strongman Championship tip over tires nearly as tall as themselves. The men lifted loaded barbells and hustled across a courtyard echoing with shouts and music.

And there was a frenzy as one man, grimacing and sweating, lurched along pulling a truck with a rope. Participating was a “great, indescribable feeling. After three years of destruction, strikes, hunger and death, we are back in this fantastic atmosphere,” said one bulky participant, Riyad Fattouh. Popular Reads Bend, Oregon, shooting: Suspect ID'd, had attended elementary school, police say 6 hours ago Fort Hood survivors speak out on Pentagon's decision to livestream Hasan's execution Oct 10 Atlanta school worker dies after falling from Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia Oct 13 The organizer, Waleed Owda, said the event had been scheduled for 2021 but was postponed, and then delayed again in 2023 when war erupted.

The Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, . “All sports activities were stopped and all sport clubs and venues were destroyed in Gaza,” Owda said. “Today, with the help of sponsors, we were able to hold the championship and it is successful, as you can see.” Despite the ruined setting in the Palestinian territory that remains nearly cut off from the world under a fragile ceasefire, “the youths proved to the world that Gaza is home to champions,” Owda said.

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What we found (2)

The AP tells a warm story of a strongman contest held among Gaza's ruins. It describes the rubble as "war-destroyed" in its own voice and never says Israeli forces destroyed it. It calls Israel's assault on Gaza "retaliation", a word that presents it as a measured answer.

  1. Hides who did it

    Minor

    “the rubble of war-destroyed buildings”

    Why this matters
    The words "war-destroyed buildings" give the destruction to "war" and to no one who carried it out.
    The impression it gives
    A reader sees ruins that seem to have come from a war in the abstract, with no party responsible for flattening the homes the children sit on.
    The context
    The article itself names the only force that bombed Gaza's buildings when it says the attack "brought Israeli retaliation". ABC's own earlier report calls this "Israel's war in the Gaza Strip", and the UN Commission of Inquiry has found that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

  2. Uses a loaded word

    Minor

    “brought Israeli retaliation”

    Why this matters
    The AP calls three years of Israeli killing and destruction in Gaza "retaliation" in its own voice, its only description of what Israel did.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes Israel's assault as a proportionate answer to one attack, an exchange between two sides.
    The context
    A participant in the article describes "three years of destruction, strikes, hunger and death". ABC's own earlier reporting puts the Palestinian death toll above 74,000, and the UN Commission of Inquiry found the assault to be genocide.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

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