Since October 7, users have been served dozens of misleading online ads produced by the Israeli government to garner attention, spread disinformation, and urge people to support their brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip. Ads alleging that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) employees are involved in the October 7 attacks and the agency infiltration by Hamas are among the most inflammatory and misleading. These ads attempt to undermine the integrity of UNRWA with misleading and conspiratorial messages. As the largest humanitarian organization in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA provided vital aid and services for nearly 2 million people since early October. The primary aim of this misleading digital campaign is to discredit and cut off funding to UNRWA.
Israel led a long campaign against the U.N. aid group for Palestinian refugees. This was followed by allegations of violations of humanitarian neutrality which led to a funding freeze by major donors, and calls by Israeli officials for it to be dismantled. The Israeli authorities have now utilized Google advertisements amid the brutal war on Gaza, to construct a smear campaign against UNRWA in hopes of cutting international funding to the agency.
The misleading pro-Israeli advertisements are appearing as “sponsored links” at the top of Google search results for “UNRWA,” including accusations of UNRWA employees’ involvement in the October 7 attacks, and that the agency has been infiltrated by Hamas.
UNRWA-Hamas Linkage Allegations by Israel
As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled against Israel’s legal delegation and ordered provisional measures to cease violations of the Genocide Convention, the Israeli authority mounted a pre-planned attack on the U.N. and the credibility of its agencies.
In January 2024, the Israeli authorities notified U.N. officials that 12 UNRWA staffers had been involved in the October 7 attacks. In response, 10 of these individuals were immediately fired by the Agency.
On January 31, during a meeting with a delegation of United Nations ambassadors, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the cessation of UNRWA’s operations and the establishment of an alternative in the Gaza Strip.
Later, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) decided that it would work to dismantle the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and replace it with an alternative body.
Immediately after these accusations were made public, before any supporting evidence was presented, individual donor nations suspended their donations to the organization including the U.S, the U.K, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, and Japan. leading to a loss of $440 million worth of funding to the Agency.
The consequences of the decision made by twenty major donors have sent shockwaves through the humanitarian landscape in Gaza. With an imposed famine in full swing, a lack of water, rising infection rates of diseases, and the almost complete collapse of the healthcare system. On February 5, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that the French diplomat and former Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, would be heading an independent review of UNRWA to investigate Israeli government accusations concerning the 12 individuals named, as well as, Hamas infiltration to the U.N.’s agency for Palestine refugees.
The review, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and supported by three Nordic research institutes, stated that Israel failed to support its claims about UNRWA staff belonging to Hamas.
"Israel has yet to provide evidence" for its terror-link allegations against personnel of UNRWA, the Independent Investigative Group stated.
Moreover, the report, which involved extensive field visits and engagement with various stakeholders across several regions, noted that Israel has not expressed any concerns about the UNRWA employee vetting process since 2011, making its first complaints about the process in January 2024.
Eventually, the majority of donors reversed their initial positions and resumed funding, with some, such as the European Union, increasing their spending.
UNRWA has long been described by Israeli politicians as a symbol of anti-Israel sentiment and a symbol of the unresolved plight of Palestinian refugees and sites of resistance to Israeli occupation.
Previously, Misbar published a report on this matter, addressing Israeli accounts sharing misleading information alleging that UNRWA supports Hamas.
Israel Use Paid Ads as A Weapon of War Against Palestinians
Amid the brutal Israeli war on Gaza, Israel has launched online ad campaigns to whitewash its record. The Israeli foreign ministry created a webpage to smear UNRWA. The page, which sits on an official Israeli Government Uniform Resource Locator URL and includes the foreign ministry’s watermarks and logo, named ‘UNRWA-Hamas Linkage,’ appeared at the top of Google Search results page when users query the ‘UNRWA’ in search engine.
Promoted via Google Ads and appearing at the top of search results when searching UNRWA, the page perpetuates the notion that the U.N.'s agency for Palestine refugees in Gaza is beyond repair. Reiterating an accusation leveled by several high-ranking Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Israel Katz, that the U.N. organization has been “deeply infiltrated” by Hamas.
The webpage also asserts that UNRWA poses a significant risk to the state of Israel: “Israel concluded that the terror infiltration into UNRWA's Gaza operations poses a grave security risk and seriously jeopardizes the humanitarian efforts.”
The Israeli page alleges that Hamas considers UNRWA an essential asset both for maintaining its rule over Gaza and for exploiting its facilities to build terror infrastructure. Moreover, the page promotes the end of UNRWA's activities in Gaza and suggests transitioning UNRWA’s responsibilities and staff to a new provider in Gaza.
The page promotes the full dismantling of the U.N.'s agency for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, alleging that it is a 'terrorist organization' and can be replaced with one of the other humanitarian actors currently operating in Gaza, without hampering the humanitarian effort.
Israel has long waged a veritable war against UNRWA, which provides a host of vital services for Palestinian refugees, including around two million people in Gaza. This includes hundreds of documented attacks on its facilities in Gaza, with over 188 UNRWA staff killed by the IOF during its brutal war on Gaza.
In the same vein, the Israeli government paid the U.S.-based search engine Google to manipulate search results by prioritizing Israeli websites that spread misinformation and conceal Israeli crimes, as the country stands trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, following South Africa’s charges.
The Israeli ad describing South Africa’s charges as “meaningless” appears at the top of the page when a search using the keywords “ICJ Israel case” is made on Google amid South Africa's genocide trial against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
An X user posted a screenshot showing the same search results on Google with the caption, “When you Google ICJ, ads for the Israelistate are the first thing to show up. They did this with Amnesty and HRW when their reports on Israeli apartheid came out. @GoogleAds profits from disinformation and genocide.”
Israel conducted targeted ads campaigns online to foster support for its actions in the brutal war on Gaza, to spread disinformation that undermines the humanitarian efforts of UNRWA, and to present misleading claims that deepen ties between UNRWA and Hamas, moreover, to allege that the agency's neutrality has been "compromised."
Within this context, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sponsored a similar advert to appear at the top of search results on Google when searching for the U.K.-based human rights group Amnesty International, which lambasts the human rights group as "antisemitic." Following Amnesty's released report that portrayed Israel as an apartheid state, the Israeli government has pursued a media campaign against the group, including describing the 280-page report as "full of lies."
The advert on Google directs readers to a webpage labeling Amnesty as "just another radical organization that echoes propaganda with no examination" and claiming that "instead of seeking facts, Amnesty quotes lies spread by terrorist organizations."
The academic and digital disinformation expert, Dr. Marc Owen Jones, documented the targeted ads campaign against Amnesty on X.
In another post, Dr. Marc Owen Jones mentioned that another pro-Israel Google Ad campaign called ‘StandWithUs’ had also taken "out another Google Ad attacking Amnesty."
However, he added, "When you click on the link, it takes you to a petition about the UN. Surely this is misleading/misrepresentation? #disinformation."
Anshel Pfeffer, a high-profile Israeli analyst, described the Israel government's reaction to the Amnesty report as "hysterical," suggesting that it should have "let this report wither on the vine," instead of embarking on an "all-out attack on Amnesty."
Similarly, the Israeli historian and director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies Ilan Pappé said, "This has always been the line since the very beginning of the Zionist project. Any reference that contradicts the Zionist narrative is not legitimate and is informed by anti-Semitism.”
Accusing anyone who criticizes Israel of being antisemitic is a classic propaganda technique, one designed to induce guilt and silence those calling out Israeli human rights abuses.
Israeli authorities have long been innovative in using regular propaganda techniques, waging targeted online advertisements to smear using the allegation of anti-Semitism, supporting terrorism or other outlandish claims against a range of rights organizations and humanitarian agencies and silencing those calling out Israeli human rights abuses violations against Palestinians Such campaign, designed to grab the public’s attention and influence them to take action, portray UNRWA as illegitimate and belligerent.
UNRWA Rejects Israel's Targeted Ads Campaign
The U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees has rejected claims made against it in Israeli advertisements on Google as “unrealistic.” UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler confirmed that allegations of Hamas's infiltration of the U.N. agency are unfounded. Fowler stated that the agency conducted repeated investigations and took corrective action when allegations of neutrality violations arose, both during and before the war in Gaza.
He stressed that there was no evidence linking any of the agency’s employees to the Oct. 7 operation on settlements adjacent to Gaza.
He added that investigations are ongoing into the allegations against about a dozen employees, emphasizing that these remain allegations regardless of how they are portrayed.
UNRWA said that it is "aware of this site and similar pages created in the past by a variety of entities." The agency maintained that "it is simply untrue that UNRWA’s neutrality has been 'compromised.'"
"An independent review recently concluded that we have one of the most robust neutrality frameworks among U.N. agencies and NGOs. And we have repeatedly taken investigative and remedial action when allegations of breaches of neutrality have emerged, whether amid the war in Gaza or before," spokesperson Jonathan Fowler said.
"We also reject claims that UNRWA has been 'infiltrated' by Hamas and others," he added.
The review, which was headed by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, added that The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) remains "irreplaceable and indispensable to Palestinians' human and economic development".
Israeli officials admit failure of campaign to halt funding for UNRWA
On April 24, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that top Israeli officials have acknowledged the failure of an Israeli campaign against international funding for the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
“Several countries have announced over the past few weeks that they will renew the funding to UNRWA which they froze at the start of the Gaza war in the wake of Israeli claims that the organization was cooperating with (the Palestinian group) Hamas and that some of its employees had actively participated in the Oct. 7 attack,” said the daily.
Haaretz reported that “political sources in Israel have acknowledged in talks with foreign diplomats in recent days that Jerusalem had not succeeded in influencing the report in the way it had hoped and that it is clear following the report's publication that other countries will join Germany and renew funding for the agency.”
The newspaper quoted an Israeli official involved in the political efforts to halt funding for the agency as saying that “the failure was not in the field of public relations and communications but rather stemmed from the lack of a convincing alternative to UNRWA.”
Haaretz also quoted a diplomat from one of the European countries that resumed funding for UNRWA as saying that his government's decision was due to two reasons.
The diplomat, whose identity the newspaper did not reveal, explained that “the evidence presented by Israel was not convincing, and it didn't sufficiently prove that this was a widespread phenomenon.”
“As the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated in recent months, it became clear that there was no immediate alternative to UNRWA. If there was one, we'd be willing to consider it,” he added.
He stressed that “there is a consensus among EU countries that support for UNRWA should continue in the current situation, despite Israel's claims.”
Israel Takes Its Digital War Into Video Games
Amidst its war on the Gaza Strip, Israel used games like “Subway Surfers,” “Solitaire: Card Game 2023,” and “Angry Birds” game that is made by SEGA-owned developer Rovio, to push pro-Israeli ads with disturbing content aimed at garnering support for its brutal military offense in Gaza.
According to a Reuters investigation, there have been at least six reports of highly stimulating advertisements that include provocative images of Hamas rocket attacks, explosions, and masked gunmen, being displayed within game apps for children in the U.K., France, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The Israeli videos come with made-for-sharing slogans such as “BringThemHome,” “Stand with Israel, Stand with Humanity” or “Hamas=ISIS.”
Angry Birds developers (Rovio) confirmed that "somehow these ads with disturbing content have in error made it through to our game" and were now being blocked manually.”
A Rovio spokesperson confirmed that the advertisements did appear in Angry Birds and are now being blocked manually after complaints from users on social media.
David Saranga, the head of digital for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the video was a government-promoted ad but he claimed that he had “no idea” how it ended up inside various games.
Saranga defended the graphic nature of the ad campaign. “We want the world to understand what happened here in Israel. It’s a massacre.” In addition, Saranga confirmed that the ministry had spent money with ad companies including Taboola, Outbrain, Google and X, formerly known as Twitter.
The use of video games to garner attention underscores just how sprawling the Israeli misleading information propaganda has become online.
Israel attempts to turn social media platforms into Pro-Israeli allies
Since October, Israeli government officials have spent millions of dollars on a widespread campaign to garner attention and target people who are opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
In a thread on the X platform, the journalist Sophia Smith stated that the Israeli government has spent an estimated $7.1 million on YouTube ads, after having drawn data from an online analytics tool.
Sophia Smith explained she had used the analytics tool, Semrush during her research which estimates the cost of advertising campaigns. Smith highlighted on X, that Israel has invested approximately $7.1 million exclusively on YouTube advertisements, translating to roughly 1 billion impressions.
Smith’s investigation also revealed a disconcerting pattern. Some videos would appear and disappear from the ad center intermittently, suggesting a possible violation of YouTube’s ad guidelines.
According to data analysis conducted by Politico, there are also campaign strategies directed at other platforms including X, relying on emotional and graphic ads that have been paid for by the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry. It added the foreign ministry has reportedly run 30 advertisements that have been viewed 4 million times on X. Google had removed 30 of the Israeli government’s ads because they did not comply with their guidelines, Politico reported.
Despite the stringent policies that Google maintains against the promotion of ads containing violent language or graphic depictions of physical trauma, a continuous cycle of uploading and activation of disturbing graphic ads was observed and a wide range of emotional manipulation strategies by Israel was employed.
In October 2023, An Israeli state advertising campaign appeared on many X users’ feeds despite the microblogging company’s ad policy guidelines banning such content.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry official X account displayed a post featuring burned and destroyed houses. The post, which had attracted 8.5 million, read: “They went from house to house. Burned people alive. Murdered entire families. Children. Babies. We will not be silent. May the memory of the victims of Kibbutz Beeri be a blessing.”
According to the company’s policy, the promotion of content from state-affiliated media is prohibited, and such content directly violates X’s ban on state and affiliated accounts running advertising campaigns on the website.
“State-affiliated media may not purchase advertisements. This policy extends to individuals reporting on behalf of, or who are directly affiliated with such entities,” the company’s policy states.
Israel Pushes Google’s Green Ads to Plant Trees Over Genocidal Crime
Amid Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza, prominent nonprofits pushed Israeli green ad propaganda on Google, soliciting donations for projects at the Gaza border.
The Israeli organizations have been pushing out Israel green ad propaganda to U.K. web users, asking for donations to plant trees in Israeli settlements on the Gaza border.
The Canary Analysis identified at least 22 such ads from three notable Israeli organizations plugging tree-planting programs that have been launched Since Israel began its war on Gaza. The Jewish National Fund U.K. (JNF UK), Holy Land Tree, and Israel Trees, are each running these ads.
In one ad on Google, accompanying an image depicting people holding saplings, the text reads: “We Will Plant NEW Trees & Life! Plant A Tree In Israel. Planting is Starting in Nachal Oz on the Gaza Border Next Week. Help us reach out goal.”
Google’s Ads Transparency Center shows that the search engine has promoted the ad to the U.K. web.
The database shows that Seth Gilbert Sackett's organization registered ads for donations. Seth, who also goes by Shmuel Sackett, is the co-founder of the Zo Artzeinu hard-right protest group.
Notably, Sackett has posted numerous blogs on his website which incite the genocide in Gaza.
Sackett’s blog calls readers to get behind the teachings of Rabbis (the supreme spiritual leaders of the Jews in Israel) which promote the annihilation of Gaza and Palestine.
A screenshot of Sackett’s blog (am yisrael chai website)
Notably, Israel is using these planting schemes to a broader part of its project to conceal violent crimes. These tree-planting schemes seem like an innocuous face of Israel. However, they are a key tool in its project of ethnic cleansing in occupied Palestine. While Israel uproots trees, Palestinian lives, and massacres Gazans they plant trees in an attempt to greenwash its crimes
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