Hamas’s Brutality Challenges the Worldview of Western Leftists, While Fables of Israeli Cruelty Restore Their Faith

Since yesterday morning, it has been clear that almost nothing about the reports that Israel bombed a Gaza hospital on Tuesday was true. The explosion was caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad; the projectile hit a parking lot and not the hospital; and it likely killed dozens rather than 500. Yet the story—concocted by Hamas—was disseminated by the BBC, the New York Times, and other prestige outlets, and eagerly believed by countless Westerners. Indeed some cling to it still. Einat Wilf explains this credulity: