The official Israeli army version of why it has targeted civilian areas during its intense and deadly bombardments in southern Lebanon is that the Lebanese are hiding long-range missile launchers in their own homes. This explanation was used to justify the killing of 492 people and the wounding of 1,645 in a single day of strikes. This ready-to-serve explanation will accompany us throughout the Israeli war in Lebanon, however long it takes. The Israeli media is now heavily citing these claims and US and Western media outlets are following suit. Keep this in mind as you reflect on the statement made by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in October last year, when he argued that there are no civilians in Gaza and “there is an entire nation out there that is responsible.” Israel does this in every war it launches against an Arab nation. Instead of removing civilians and civilian infrastructure from its bank of targets, it immediately turns the civilian population into the main targets of its war. A quick glance at the number of civilians killed in the ongoing war and genocide in Gaza should be enough to demonstrate that Israel targets ordinary people as a matter of course. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, children and women constitute the largest percentage of the war’s victims at 69 percent. If we factor in the number of adult males who have been killed — a number that includes doctors, medics, civil defense workers and numerous other categories — it will become obvious that the vast majority of all of Gaza’s victims are civilians. Only the Israeli media and their allies in the West continue to find justifications as to why Palestinian civilians, and now Lebanese, are being killed in large numbers. Compare the following two statements on Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, both of which received much attention in the media. “Hamas systematically uses hospitals to wage war and consistently uses the people of Gaza as human shields,” Hagari said in March. Then, “Hezbollah’s terror headquarters was intentionally built under residential buildings in the heart of Beirut, as part of Hezbollah’s strategy of using human shields,” he said on Friday. Israel does this in every war it launches. It immediately turns the civilian population into the main targets. Ramzy Baroud For those who are giving Hagari the benefit of the doubt, just review what has taken place in Gaza in the last year. For example, Israel claimed that last year’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital massacre was not its doing and that it was a Palestinian rocket that killed nearly 500 displaced refugees and wounded hundreds more. All evidence, including investigations by well-respected rights groups, concluded the opposite. However, the false Israeli claims received much media coverage. This episode was repeated numerous times. In fact, the lies started almost immediately following the Oct. 7 attacks, with Israel making claims about decapitated babies and mass rape. Even though much of this was conclusively proven to be wrong, some in the media and some pro-Israel officials continue to speak of it as fact. Another example was Israel’s claim that a Hamas headquarters was located at Al-Shifa Hospital. Even though no command center was found there, the unsubstantiated Israeli claim continues to be repeated as if it was the truth. The same logic is now being applied to Lebanon, where Israel claims that it does not target civilians. But when civilians are inevitably killed, it is Hezbollah that should be blamed for supposedly using them as human shields. The Gaza playbook is now the Lebanon playbook. Of course, many in the media continue to play along. They do so not because they are irrational or unable to reach proper conclusions based on the evidence, but because they are part of the Israeli narrative and not neutral storytellers or honest reporters. Israel gets away with its lies because Israeli propaganda is embraced by Western officials and journalists. Ramzy Baroud Even the likes of the BBC are part of that narrative, as it uses Israeli claims as the starting point of any conversation on Palestine or Lebanon. For example, “Israel has said it carried out a wave of preemptive strikes across southern Lebanon to thwart a large-scale rocket and drone attack by Hezbollah,” the BBC reported last month. Israel gets away with its lies pertaining to the mass killings in Gaza, and now sadly in Lebanon, because Israeli propaganda is embraced by Western officials and journalists. Thus, when US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described a Sept. 20 airstrike on Lebanon as “justice served,” he was indicating to the mainstream media that its coverage should remain committed to that official assessment. Imagine the outrage if the tables were turned and thousands of Israeli civilians were slaughtered in their own homes by Lebanese bombs. There would be no need to elaborate on the reactions of the US or Western media, as this should be obvious to anyone who is paying attention. Lebanon is a sovereign Arab state. Gaza is an occupied territory and its people are protected under the Geneva Conventions. Lebanese and Palestinian lives are not without worth and their mass murder should not be allowed to take place for any reason, especially one that is based on utter lies communicated by an Israeli military spokesman. Perpetuating Israeli lies is dangerous, not only because truth-telling is a virtue but also because words kill and dishonest reporting can, in fact, succeed in justifying genocide. Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and author. He is editor of The Palestine Chronicle and nonresident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.” X: @RamzyBaroud