The corporate media, seemingly bent on not offending Hamas terrorists, their campus sympathizers, and Washington allies, willfully chose to downplay Hamas’s horrific swap of Shiri Bibas’s body with that of another person ahead of its scheduled handover to Israel. Rather than expose depravity, the media made the choice to downplay it with the hope that no one will notice.
Watch NBC’s treatment of the story:
DISGUSTING: NBC News can't even bring themselves to utter Shri Bibas's name as they downplay Hamas's horrific switching out of her body prior to transfer to Israel. pic.twitter.com/LAxUgLifMz
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 21, 2025
LESTER HOLT: Overseas, a solemn day in Israel as the country received the remains of four bodies including the two youngest hostages. But according to the Israeli military, their mother was not among them. Hala Gorani reports the Bibas brothers have become emblematic of the hostage crisis and the devastating war.
HALA GORANI: Tonight, their faces became the symbols of Israel's hostage crisis. Ariel and Kfir Bibas, abducted on October 7th, 2023, alive. The boys, 4 years old and just shy of 9 months at the time. Today, returning home in coffins to their father, Yarden Bibas, released earlier this month in a hostage exchange.
That’s it from NBC on the undignified transfer. NBC didn’t even have the decency to mention Shiri Bibas’s name, even as a stranger lies in her coffin because Hamas continue to be medieval savages. The story quickly moved to related matters, but there was no focus on the “ceremony”, wherein the Red Cross signed for the bodies, which were placed in front of a mural of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as a vampire. Neither was there mention of the parade that preceded the “ceremony”. All we get from correspondent Hala Gorani is: “The day started inside the devastated enclave, where masked Hamas fighters handed four black-clad coffins over to the Red Cross.”
CBS’s Debora Patta, of all people, won the moral high ground with her coverage of the transfer. But the bar she had to overcome was very low:
DEBORA PATTA: Under a grim Gaza sky, four coffins were paraded in a Hamas propaganda spectacle. The fighters handed over the bodies of 4-year-old Ariel Bibas and his 9-month-old brother Kfir. Israel says their mother Shiri was not among them. The family has become an indelible symbol of the October 7 terror attack.
Patta’s succinct but accurate “propaganda spectacle” is more than we got from NBC with regard to Hamas’s grotesque display. Her reporting that “Shiri was not among…” the bodies handed over to Israel eclipses NBC’s by first mentioning her name. Like I said, low moral bar here.
ABC’s response to the moral question of Bibas coverage was simply to ignore it, choosing instead to devote a full report to the Tel Aviv bus bombings. There was ZERO mention of the ghoulish handover ceremony,
Viewed as a whole, the networks failed the morality test that Hamas lay at their feet. Their self-censorship was shocking to behold, and is shocking to write about. And the question remains: why did they self-censor? Who are they trying to appease?
The media’s collective downplay of the horrors of what happened in Gaza today betray a depravity not very far removed from that of Hamas themselves.
Click “expand” to view full transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective networks on Thursday, February 20th, 2025:
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
2/20/25
6:35 PM
LESTER HOLT: Overseas, a solemn day in Israel as the country received the remains of four bodies including the two youngest hostages. But according to the Israeli military, their mother was not among them. Hala Gorani reports the Bibas brothers have become emblematic of the hostage crisis and the devastating war.
HALA GORANI: Tonight, their faces became the symbols of Israel's hostage crisis. Ariel and Kfir Bibas, abducted on October 7th, 2023, alive. The boys, 4 years old and just shy of 9 months at the time. Today, returning home in coffins to their father, Yarden Bibas, released earlier this month in a hostage exchange. At Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, it was not a day for celebration. Gil Dickman’s cousin Carmel Gat was also taken hostage and killed in Gaza last August.
GIL DICKMAN: For the families, it's a devastating moment. And it's a reminder for them that we have to fight for the others.
GORANI: The atmosphere is certainly more solemn than on Saturday since the signing of the latest deal, when live hostages are returned. This time, the country is witnessing the return of deceased captives. The day started inside the devastated enclave, where masked Hamas fighters handed four black-clad coffins over to the Red Cross. 84-year-old activist Oded Lifschitz was among those sent back. He volunteered with a group that would drive Palestinians in need of care to Israeli hospitals. The Israeli military transported the coffins to a forensic facility. The remains of Lifschitz formally identified there. Tests are ongoing for the others. Back at Hostage Square, many tell us death and devastation in Gaza need to end for everyone.
DICKMAN: We don't want to live in a constant war. It's not good for anyone. We want this war to end.
HOLT: And Hala, we're hearing tonight there were explosions on some buses near Tel Aviv. What are officials saying?
GORANI: Yes, Lester. The police are saying that they are investigating these explosions as a potential terrorist attack. Three devices went off in an empty parking lot, two were defused elsewhere, and authorities are scanning other areas for potential objects. Lester.
HOLT: Hala Gorani, thank you.
CBS EVENING NEWS
2/20/25
6:42 PM
MAURICE DUBOIS: Hamas today returned four Israeli hostages, returned them in coffins.
JOHN DICKERSON: It was the first release of hostage remains under the ceasefire deal. Among them were two young children. Debora Patta is in East Jerusalem.
DEBORA PATTA: Under a grim Gaza sky, four coffins were paraded in a Hamas propaganda spectacle. The fighters handed over the bodies of 4-year-old Ariel Bibas and his 9-month-old brother Kfir. Israel says their mother Shiri was not among them. The family has become an indelible symbol of the October 7 terror attack. And as the convoy made its way into Israel, mourners lined the streets to pay their respects. The fragile cease-fire in Gaza is approaching the end of its first phase. On Saturday, six more living hostages are expected to be freed. Yael Alexander's son Ydan will not be among them.
YAEL ALEXANDER: Every release, of course, I'm crying and I'm feeling- it's very, very emotional. I also cry because it’s not Ydan. It's not my boy. Originally from New Jersey, Ydan is thought to be the last living American hostage. He volunteered for the Israeli army after finishing school and is only due to be released in the second stage of the deal. Negotiations for that have not yet begun.
PATTA: Do you feel the Israeli government owes you something?
ALEXANDER Of course. He came to protect Israel. Where is Israel? They need to protect him. They need to bring him home.
PATTA: Her message for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: you cannot stop negotiating now.
ALEXANDER: Imagine it was you, imagine you were the father, your son is held in Gaza tunnels alive and still waiting to be released. Why to postpone it? Do it.
DUBOIS: And Debora Patta joins us now from East Jerusalem. Debora, you’ve reported from the region many times and with this news today, what are you noticing if anything about the mood of the Israeli people?
PATTA: Well, Maurice, for the last five weeks the images of those Red Cross vehicles in Gaza waiting for another hostage exchange have been a symbol of hope here. Hostages released alive after more than 15 months in captivity. But today really marked the first time that Hamas has released the bodies of dead hostages. And it signifies the very sobering reality that there will be more hostages coming home in coffins. That for some families, there will be no longed-for reunion with loved ones.
DICKERSON: Debora, what’s the prospect for that fragile cease-fire as it moves into its next phases?
PATTA: Well John, the next round is going to be a lot harder. Israel and Hamas want very different things. We’ve heard one Hamas commander say that they are prepared to release all the remaining hostages in one go, in exchange for a permanent truce and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. That’s a nonstarter for Israel, who has said it will accept nothing less than the complete demilitarization of Gaza with no Hamas presence at all. So we are right back to that thorny question of who is going to control postwar Gaza.
DICERSON: Debora Patta in East Jerusalem. Debora, thank you.