Under Press Law No. 2/99, of January 13, articles 24, 25 and 26, DN received from Oren Rozenblat, Ambassador of Israel in Portugal, the response to the articles entitled “Israel launches attacks against Gaza and Lebanon” and “Israel continues deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip”, published on November 20 and 21, 2025, which here we reproduce:
In recent days, Diário de Notícias published two articles on the situation in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Unfortunately, these articles – and especially their titles – contain (serious) inaccuracies that present readers with a misleading picture of reality. They are: “Israel launches attacks against Gaza and Lebanon” and “Israel continues deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip” on November 20 and 21, respectively.
The central fact missing from the articles is that there is currently a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. Israel has consistently respected this agreement, while Hamas has repeatedly violated it, killing 3 of our soldiers and launching several attacks against Israel. Hamas also violated the agreement by not returning all the hostages within the 72 hours it committed to. These were central elements of the ceasefire agreement and all were completely ignored by Hamas.
Also in Lebanon, the terrorist organization Hizbullah signed a ceasefire agreement with Israel that established its total withdrawal from the south of the country. Not only did they not do so, but they continue to arm themselves to attack Israel.
As any sovereign state would do, Israel responds to these violations. However, the articles focus exclusively on Israel’s defensive actions, presenting them as gratuitous unilateral aggressions and titling them in a way that omits the actions that provoked them.
From the titles of the DN articles, readers understand that Israel decides to attack for no reason, simply because. Now, inaccuracies matter, as do omissions.
Another serious concern is the newspaper’s presentation of the number of victims in Gaza as proven facts. Even news organizations widely considered to be hostile to Israel – including the BBC – are keen to specify that these figures are allegations originating from Hamas, which is not an independent or neutral source. Diário de Notícias does not have a correspondent in Gaza and, however, published the figures without any reservation, as if they were from a safe and independent source. This is not accurate and misleads the public.
As if that were not enough, Hamas itself claimed that many of those recently killed in Gaza and Lebanon belonged to its own ranks – that is, they were its terrorists. This absolutely crucial contextualization is absent from the articles published by this newspaper, implying that all the victims are civilians and that Israel is acting without reason. For example, all 13 terrorists who were eliminated – cited in the Diário de Notícias article as “13 people (who) died in another attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, southern Lebanon” – were recognized by Hamas itself as its terrorists and glorified as martyrs. The terrorist organization, in fact, made a poster in his honor.
The media plays a fundamental role in shaping public opinion, especially on issues as sensitive and consequential as the conflict in the Middle East. It is for this reason that accuracy, balance and verification of information and sources are essential.
Headlines and articles that highlight only one side of events – especially the side that responds to violations -, thus omitting important facts, do not serve the public interest.
The obligation to report events responsibly extends to all media organizations, not just Diário de Notícias. Recently, it was exposed to everyone’s eyes – through an internal investigation carried out by the corporation itself – that the BBC, which many people consider a reliable source of information, deceived viewers with one-sided coverage of the war in Gaza, amplifying Hamas’ false campaigns and disseminating its propaganda as if it were a legitimate source of news.
Israel values a free and independent press, but press freedom must go hand in hand with accuracy. As partners in promoting informed public discourse, we all share the responsibility for ensuring that complex realities are presented clearly, accurately and without bias.
Diário de Notícias is a newspaper, not a political party.
I invite DN to take these concerns into consideration in its future articles, so that readers can form their opinions freely but always based on complete and reliable information.
Ears Rozenblat,
Ambassador of Israel to Portugal
Note from Management: Although the title does not contain this information, the news in question states that Israel’s attacks took place in response to alleged ceasefire violations by Hamas. DN reaffirms its commitment to rigorous and independent journalism, in covering this and other current national and international topics.