How Successful Were Iran's Retaliatory Strikes on Israel? Israeli Military Censors Don't Want You To Know.

As Per Usual, Israel Has Barred Journalists From Reporting On The Effects Of Iran's Retaliatory Strikes.

Written By: Justin K.P.

Iran has fired missiles at Northern Israel after Israel crossed Iran’s red line and began bombing Dahieh in South Beirut .

The Israeli media has claimed that Israel intercepted most Iranian missiles, including missiles fired at Israel’s Nevatim and Tel Nof air bases.

But what Israel and Western media will not tell you is that Israel yet again issued strict censorship orders, barring journalists from covering any damage that Iranian missiles did to Israeli military facilities.

As the Al Jazeera journalist Nida Ibrahim, working in the occupied West Bank, noted :

In general, there is an emphasis in Israel on reporting that the Israeli military has been intercepting all the missiles launched from Iran into the country. Although some Israeli media outlets are reporting damage in certain locations, including yesterday when the first volley was fired from Iran, it remains difficult to fully assess the impact.

We have to remember how Israel works. There is a military censor that ensures information deemed sensitive by the state is not exposed to the media.

So it is hard to assess how much damage these rockets have been causing inside Israel.

Palestinian journalist Abdusalam Fayez revealed that the Israeli military censor issued “strict restrictions on coverage of the ongoing regional war, ordering journalists not to publish information about missiles landing at military sites in the country.”

This included orders from the Israeli military censor saying:

-Do not publish the exact number of missiles launched in each volley. You may use general phrases such as scattered missiles or dozens, but not precise numbers.

-Do not publish reports about missiles that fell before reaching their target or crashed along their path. Instead, say they did not reach their destination

-The censor also ordered journalists not to publish “any information about missiles landing at military or strategic sites, or at sea

-It further instructed them not to publish “any videos showing interceptor missiles hitting targets.”

He added that, “Israel also banned the circulation of visuals related to the sites where missiles and drones landed in Israeli cities, towns and settlements.”

This is a continuation of the Israeli military censorship that was put in place throughout the Iran war to hide the actual damage Iran had done to Israel through retaliatory strikes.

As CNN reported in March of this year:

Every reporter in Israel — and every member of the public — is subject to a military censor. On national security grounds, the regulation authorizes the censor to prohibit reporting or broadcasting any material that could reveal sensitive information or pose a threat to the country’s security interests.

This is particularly sensitive during wartime, where the military censor has made clear that broadcasting any images that reveal the location of interceptor missiles or military sites hit by enemy projectiles is forbidden, especially in live broadcasts.

To ensure military censorship, Israel has imposed harsher penalties for journalists who violate it.

The Committee to Protect Journalists noted in March that “Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi announced stricter enforcement measures against foreign media during the ongoing military operation. Officials said authorities would adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ policy toward violations of military censorship rules, including detaining and arresting journalists suspected of broadcasting information that could endanger operational security”.

Yet again, Israel has barred journalists from reporting on any Iranian strikes on Israeli military sites, and even Israeli military intercepts (suggesting they are not as successful as Israel lets on), in order to hide the damage that Iran’s retaliatory strikes have actually done.

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