PUBLISHED on August 7, 2025, 08:22 AM EST – Key Points and Summary – French media outlets, including FRANCE 24, are accusing Israel of a campaign of “censorship” to conceal the true extent of damage from Iranian missile strikes during the recent “12-Day War.”
-An investigation by the French broadcaster claims to have identified extensive damage to strategic sites that was “kept under wraps.”
-However, this framing is disingenuous.
-It overlooks the long-standing and official role of the Israeli Military Censor, a unit whose purpose is to prevent adversaries from gaining real-time intelligence on strike impacts and air defense vulnerabilities for legitimate national security reasons.
Did Israel Censor Damage Done from the 12-Day War?
French media outlets have framed Israel’s wartime security protocols as a campaign of “censorship,” suggesting that the Israeli government concealed the true extent of damage caused by Iranian missile strikes during the recent 12-Day War.
Rather than acknowledging the national security rationale behind the restrictions, the reports arguably imply that information was suppressed to serve political interests.
A FRANCE 24 report published on August 5 claimed that images analyzed by its own team of researchers suggest “Iran caused extensive damage and hit at least eight strategic and military targets.”
The outlet’s “Observers” team reportedly identified and geolocated 36 Iranian strikes on Israeli soil using open source data and cross referencing professional and amateur images published online.
“The images that we verified show large swaths of destruction in several residential areas, as well as evidence that strikes hit strategic and military sites,” the outlet reported, adding that “major strikes did take place but were kept under wraps by Israeli censorship.”
Similarly, French newspaper Le Monde described “tightening media censorship” in Israel in a June 21 piece that described Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir as a “far-right supremacist minister.”
The outlet published the text of an email sent by the Israeli Government Press Office to foreign correspondents in the country, detailing new guidelines that prevent the airing of live or recorded broadcasts from combat zones or missile impact sites without prior written approval.
While the reports accurately note that Israel is limiting public disclosure of damage caused by Iranian strikes, their framing is arguably disingenuous.
Both outlets overlook the purpose of long-standing security protocols designed to prevent adversaries from exploiting vulnerabilities during a period of heightened threat.
Why, and How, Israel Prevents Public Disclosure of Missile Strikes
Israeli military censorship is no secret. The Israeli Military Censor (IMC), an official unit within the Israeli government tasked with preventing the publication of information that risks national security. The body is headed by the Israeli Chief Censor, a military official appointed by the Minister of Defense.
Dating back to British Mandate-era emergency regulations, Israel formalized the 1966 Censorship Agreement, whereby media outlets agreed to submit potentially sensitive material for review before publication and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) agreed not to misuse its role. The agreement also guaranteed freedom from censorship of political criticism and expressions of opinion.
Today, the censor blocks or redacts thousands of articles annually, with as many as 1,635 full bans reported in 2024, alongside an additional 6,265 partial restrictions.
While still technically “censorship,” the rules are long-established and serve an essential purpose: to deny adversaries real-time intelligence on strike patterns, air defense gaps, or military procedures carried out during active military exchanges.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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Swamplaw Yankee
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Very Noteworthy: not a single peer reader comments?
The speculation is that MSM located close by would be on top of this military “NEWS”. Greece, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Rumania, all close by, all would have MSM with the funds to be functioning full time as news gatherers. Do these nations actually have functioning MSM or a another reality exists?
Oui, the French state seem to have the funds to still emit news, of a type that is not coming out of North America. Why is that? -30-