Hostages, captives, prisoners: Western media still privileges Israeli over Palestinian lives

On Monday, Israel and Hamas exchanged captives as part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan.

Mainstream western media coverage of the exchange reflected the same pro-Israel bias that has long characterised reporting on Israel and Palestine, which privileges Israeli lives over Palestinian ones.

Major outlets such as the BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, the Associated Press, The Washington Post, Reuters, Deutsche Welle and Agence France-Presse foregrounded Israeli captives, both living and dead, while largely downplaying the experiences of Palestinians.

Across newspapers, television broadcasts, websites and social media, Israeli captives and their families received far more attention - and were humanised through personal details and emotional imagery - than Palestinians.

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