ICRC Transfer Not Hostages; Media Calls it 'Goodwill'
Al-Monitor reports that remains handed over to Israel by the Red Cross, facilitating a transfer from Gaza, were confirmed not to belong to any of the live hostages. Curiously, American outlets like ABC News and The Washington Post chose to highlight this development, framing it as a 'gesture' within 'negotiations' and 'dialogue.' They failed to point out that even when Palestinian bodies are
returned, the framing must still serve a narrative of one-sided 'goodwill.' This is not a 'negotiation'; it's the 17th consecutive day of Israeli airstrikes on Rafah, per UN OCHA, a city the U.S. insists should be a safe zone. This isn't 'goodwill' from Hamas; it's international law regarding human remains during conflict, applied selectively by U.S. media. What constitutes a 'goodwill gesture'
from Israel? Perhaps a temporary halt in the bombing of civilians, or allowing food trucks that don't then get blockaded by Israeli citizens—neither of which appears to be on the table. The media, however, remains remarkably adept at finding silver linings in the cloud of civilian casualties, provided those clouds originate from Gaza.