Le Monde (English) · Gaza · 25 Aug 2026

Passive voice hides who attacked, the headline editorialises, and one side gets far more space.

/ 10 · article score

scored on 6 of 10 measures

The double standard

Israeli military claims are attributed and then immediately discredited by a named source, while Hamas's responsibility for October 7 is stated as plain fact with no attribution, granting the two sides opposite epistemic treatment within the same sentence.

How it builds, in Retrospective incrimination paragraph

Actor named: Israeli military strike named directly
an Israeli military strike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis
Actor fully named in active construction
No actor named: who targeted the compound?
A few minutes later, the hospital compound was targeted a second time.
Agentless passive removes Israeli military as actor
Deaths stated passively: killer unnamed
In total, 22 people were killed and 50 injured.
Agentless passive for death toll, no actor
Israeli claim flagged with sceptical verb 'claimed'
First, the military claimed that the target on the hospital roof was a camera used by Hamas to monitor the movements of Israeli soldiers.
Claim attributed and framed as assertion requiring scrutiny
Israeli claim immediately falsified by named source
The claim was not true, as a Reuters investigation later showed.
Claim verified against named external authority and found false
Hamas responsibility stated as unattributed fact
Hamas, the group responsible for the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023
Responsibility asserted as established fact, no attribution or qualifier

The same decision, both sides

Whether a claim of responsibility is attributed or stated as fact

Israel's claim about the rooftop camera is introduced with 'claimed' and then explicitly falsified by a named investigation.

First, the military claimed that the target on the hospital roof was a camera used by Hamas to monitor the movements of Israeli soldiers. The claim was not true, as a Reuters investigation later showed.

Hamas's responsibility for October 7 is stated as bare, unattributed fact inside a subordinate clause, with no qualifying verb and no source.

Hamas, the group responsible for the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023

Whether the actor behind violence is named or erased

The first Israeli strike is written in the active voice with Israel named as the agent.

an Israeli military strike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis

The second strike, which hit rescuers and journalists, is written in the agentless passive, removing Israel as the named actor.

A few minutes later, the hospital compound was targeted a second time.

What a reader is left with. A reader is left with the impression that Israeli military statements are unreliable and require verification, while Hamas's culpability for October 7 is simply a background truth needing none, creating an asymmetry in the burden of proof applied to each side.

File a complaint

This article can be challenged with Le Monde (English)'s editorial-standards team.

Amend the headline to include a reference to the human cost of the events reported, for example along the lines of: "Soldier testimony on bombing that killed 22 at Nasser Hospital sheds light on Israel's information war," so that victim reference is not omitted while active-agent framing of one party is retained.
Amend the passage describing the second strike to name the agent consistently with the treatment of the first strike, or explain in an editor's note why the agent of the second strike cannot be named.

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Every highlight is a quote the model flagged. Tap one — or a metric below — to see what it measures and why it scored the way it did.

Aggressor framingHeadline analysisVictim affiliation labelsMilitary claim verificationPerspective allocation

Soldier testimony sheds light on how Israel wages information war

HATEM KHALED / REUTERS World World World Israel Israel Israel Soldier testimony sheds light on how Israel wages information war By Luc Bronner (Jerusalem, correspondent) Published today at 3:16 pm (Paris) 8 min read Lire en français Subscribers only Make us preferred on Google share Share on Messenger Share on Facebook Share by email Share on Linkedin Copy link Investigation One year after the bombing that killed 22 people, including five journalists, at Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli soldier has told several media outlets, including Le Monde, how the Israeli army pulls out all stops to link bombing victims to Hamas. It is a rare account from a military source who spoke out to shed light on one aspect of the information war: How the Israeli army responds and organizes itself when there is suspicion of a war crime, in order to counter and minimize the impact of published footage or information. Under strict conditions of anonymity, the soldier described to Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) Breaking the Silence, as well as to several media outlets including Le Monde , the standard method used by the military, drawing on a significant episode from the war in Gaza. Shortly after 10 am on the morning of August 25, 2025, an Israeli military strike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the south of the Palestinian territory. A few minutes later, the hospital compound was targeted a second time. In total, 22 people were killed and 50 injured. Among them were healthcare workers and five journalists, including correspondents from the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies. From outside, a camera recorded the second strike, which hit rescuers and journalists as they were helping victims of the initial explosion. Read more Subscribers only Deadly Israeli strikes on Khan Yunis's Nasser Hospital spark outrage all the way to the White House The attack sparked strong international outcry. The soldier who spoke out described the method used by Israel to try to contain the consequences in international public opinion. First, the military claimed that the target on the hospital roof was a camera used by Hamas to monitor the movements of Israeli soldiers. The claim was not true, as a Reuters investigation later showed. Above all, the military initiated what it called a "retrospective incrimination": making every effort to link the victims of this double strike to Hamas, the group responsible for the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. You have 85.98% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.

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