TRENDING

Blog: As Israel Murders Every Journalist In Gaza, Some Indian Counterparts Do An Embedded Visit

Last week saw some of India's prominent media persons visiting Israel led by Israeli spokesperson in India Guy Nir leading the delegation. The journalists included Aditya Raj Kaul of TV9, Zakka Jacob of CNN-News18, Vishnu Som of NDTV, Abhishek Kapoor of Republic TV, Siddhant Sibal of WION, Manash Pratim of PTI, and Shubhajit Roy of The Indian Express.

embedded journalism Edited by
Blog: As Israel Murders Every Journalist In Gaza, Some Indian Counterparts Do An Embedded Visit

Blog: As Israel Murders Every Journalist In Gaza, Some Indian Counterparts Do An Embedded Visit

Last week saw some of India’s prominent media persons visiting Israel led by Israeli spokesperson in India Guy Nir leading the delegation. The journalists included Aditya Raj Kaul of TV9, Zakka Jacob of CNN-News18, Vishnu Som of NDTV, Abhishek Kapoor of Republic TV, Siddhant Sibal of WION, Manash Pratim of PTI, and Shubhajit Roy of The Indian Express.

Why I choose to call the their reporting from Israel as Embedded journalism, a term which was in the spotlight during US’ War on Terror which referred to the practice of assigning journalists to live and travel with military units during operations, allowing them to report from the front lines while being under the protection – and often the supervision – of the armed forces, because the nature of most of the reports they produced. Reports from the visit reveal a striking pattern – a dominant focus on the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, with minimal attention to the genocide in Gaza. Common interviewees featured prominently across their stories: Mazal Tazazo, a Nova music festival attack survivor; Jonathan Zadka from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Daniel Shek from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum; and Ronnie Kaplan, a former Israeli Defence Force spokesperson, an analysis by Newslaundry shows.

Kaul’s coverage for News 9 largely revolved around the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, the Abraham Accords, protests against Netanyahu, and the hostage crisis. Interviews with Zadka and the Israeli foreign minister focused on geopolitics and alleged UN inaction against terrorism.

Sibal too concentrated on the Abraham Accords and IMEC. While he briefly asked Shek about Gaza, the reply was couched in sympathy for suffering but with blame laid squarely on Hamas. He also visited the Indian War Cemetery in Haifa but made no mention of Waibhav Anil Kale, the Indian UN aid worker killed in Gaza.

Abhishek Kapoor reported vividly from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, showcasing personal items from kibbutzim attacked on 7 October, including props to simulate the “tunnel experience” of hostages. Vishnu Som, anchoring NDTV’s Left, Right & Centre from the Gaza border and other frontline sites, balanced some mention of Gaza’s dire humanitarian crisis with more extensive focus on Israeli victims and hostage narratives.

Zakka Jacob offered one of the few candid acknowledgements of press restrictions, posting on X that Gaza was “arguably the worst place on the planet right now” but that journalists were barred from entering. “On the other side of the brown/gray wall is Gaza. Arguably the worst place on the planet right now. Untold death and destruction. We are not allowed to go in and report. But hopefully this war will end, sooner than later,” he wrote on X.

The delegation’s itinerary resembled a guided PR exercise. On day one, they visited Hostage Square. Day two included briefings with the Israeli Defence Forces’ media unit, a press meet with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar – which veered into India-Pakistan issues – and meetings at the foreign ministry.

Day three saw trips to southern Israel, kibbutzim attacked on 7 October, and the Nova festival site. Later days involved visits to I-24, an openly pro-Netanyahu network, and to northern Israel for security briefings on Lebanon and Hezbollah, with a stop in Haifa.

In an on-camera segment, Kapoor spoke of his excitement, citing his hometown’s “Friends of Israel” group and his long-standing fascination with kibbutz life. His personal enthusiasm underscored the visit’s nature – a curated experience shaped by the host nation’s political priorities.

Against the backdrop of this embedded tour, Gaza’s press corps is being decimated. Journalists, often the sole witnesses to war crimes, have been systematically targeted. The death toll among media workers is unprecedented. The killings have drawn condemnation from international watchdogs, yet Israel has tightened its ban on independent reporting from the territory.

Press junkets are common enough in newsrooms, but the timing of this one could not have been worse. Israel is accused of bombing civilians, starving them, and targeting those seeking food – with more than 18,500 Palestinian children killed so far. Access to Gaza for international media has been blocked, while local journalists are being hunted down. Over 230 have been killed, including an Al Jazeera crew wiped out in a tent near a hospital. Yet, among the visiting Indian journalists, only a handful raised questions about these atrocities.

That Indian journalists accepted such a tightly controlled trip – and in many cases produced stories aligning neatly with Israeli talking points – raises urgent questions about ethics and editorial independence. Press junkets may be routine, but when a government accused of genocide is scripting the itinerary and controlling the access, the line between journalism and propaganda becomes dangerously thin.

By prioritising hostage stories over the mass killing of civilians, the delegation’s coverage has contributed to a skewed narrative – one that risks whitewashing crimes against humanity. The absence of sustained questioning about the killings, starvation, and targeting of journalists in Gaza is telling. It is a silence that serves the occupier, not the truth.

In war, access is a privilege – but responsibility is a duty. When access comes at the cost of critical inquiry, the result is not reporting; it is public relations.

While a few outlets such as The Indian Express and Republic TV disclosed their journalists were travelling “at the invitation of the Israeli embassy in New Delhi”, others failed to mention it when they released their reports, and the intention of the journalists and the media houses becomes more questionable as some of the media owners in India has investments in Israel.

Topics
Aditya Raj Kaul embedded journalism Israel visit vishnu som zakka jacob

Related