December 12, 2025 – Israel Headlines

Story gist: Footage shows six Israeli hostages lighting Hanukkah candles in a Gaza tunnel eight months before their deaths. The video emerged recently.

Bias summary: Left-leaning CNN frames the story factually as videos of hostages ‘celebrating Hanukkah’ before they were ‘killed,’ emphasizing normalcy amid captivity. Center outlet Times of Israel uses emotive ‘harrowing footage’ and ‘execution,’ heightening tragedy and implying deliberate killing. Right-leaning coverage is absent, leaving that perspective unrepresented in the cluster.

Story gist: Amnesty International reported that Hamas committed war crimes during its 2023 attack on Israel.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like The New York Times use direct headlines mirroring the report’s language on war crimes. Center outlets like Reuters emphasize escalated terms like ‘crimes against humanity’ and include Hamas’s Gaza hostage treatment. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting any framing that might highlight validation of Israeli positions or criticism of Hamas.

Story gist: Israeli lawmakers debate a bill exempting ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews from military conscription. Religious Zionism denies agreeing to support it, and the Attorney General opposes the law.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Haaretz dramatizes Haredi draft resistance as ‘tearing Israel apart,’ targeting American Jews with alarmist tone on societal division. Center Times of Israel neutrally reports Religious Zionism’s denial of backing the ‘controversial’ exemption bill. Right-leaning Arutz Sheva emphasizes Attorney General’s ‘harsh’ opposition to the conscription law, critiquing exemptions without noting broader support dynamics.

Story gist: Gazans pulled iron bars from rubble to construct tents and sustain livelihoods. A winter storm flooded these tents in Gaza despite a ceasefire.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like Democracy Now frame the story accusatorily, emphasizing Israel’s ‘continued killing’ and a ‘slower form of death’ amid storm flooding. Center outlets like Reuters report neutrally on Gazans’ desperate resourcefulness without blame. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting perspectives that might highlight security rationales, aid distributions, or Hamas responsibilities.

Story gist: Storm Byron brought heavy rain and flooding to Israel. Two girls suffered light injuries from a falling tree at a school, with some areas recording around 200 mm of rain.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Haaretz emphasizes ‘wreaks havoc’ across Israel and Gaza Strip, broadening impact to Palestinian areas. Center Times of Israel focuses on precise facts like minor injuries and rainfall amounts, maintaining neutrality. Right-leaning Jerusalem Post stresses ‘wreaks havoc’ and heavy flooding in Israel, omitting Gaza and downplaying injuries for dramatic national focus.