Iran used hospital strike for propaganda

Iran mobilized its media in the region to exploit the explosion at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday to increase threats to Israel and the US.

Protests followed these reports in Iran, Lebanon, and other countries. In its description of the attack, Iranian media used incendiary language. For instance, Iran’s Fars News media described the blast at the hospital as the “real Holocaust.” Fars, considered close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, called Israel a “demonic” regime and accused it of being a “Zionist child-killing” country. It also claimed that the attack was linked to US support for Israel, using terms like “evil,” “barbaric,” and “bloodthirsty creature.”

The report is filled with propaganda designed to incite against the US and Israel, writing that “we consider the criminal America responsible and the main cause of this genocide and crimes against humanity by the Zionist regime. The brave and anti-tyranny people of Iran will show their anger and hatred for the brutal crimes of the Zionist child-killing regime throughout the country today.”

This type of language is unique to Iran; the use of terms such as “Holocaust” and “demonic” are meant to dehumanize Israel and the US.

It comes right as US President Joe Biden visited Israel in an attempt to cool the war. Iran has sought to exploit the explosion to encourage other countries not to meet with Biden. It is clear that protests in Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey were carried out in a quick response, illustrating Iran’s ability to mobilize across borders.

Israel has accused Hamas of lying about the incident and trying to inflame tensions. Hezbollah has also tried to exploit the explosion by claiming the hospital blast is similar to the bombing of Kafr Qana and the attack at Sabra and Shatilla in the 1980s. All the members of Iran’s “axis of resistance” seem to have adopted a similar narrative.