Irish Examiner view: Social media is new front line in the Israel-Hamas propaganda war  

Twitter, now rebranded as X, is among the social media platforms hosting disinformation in the 21st-century version of the age-old propaganda battle for hearts and minds

Destruction after Israeli aerial bombardment in Gaza City on Wednesday. Picture: Fatima Shbair/AP

The war between Israel and Hamas which erupted this week is forcing many distant observers into difficult choices, a situation summed up this week by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Speaking in the Dáil, the Taoiseach reiterated his “total condemnation” of the savage Hamas attack on Israel — but added that targeting civilian infrastructure in Gaza was also unacceptable, pointing out that if Russia is being condemned for attacking power stations in Ukraine, then Israel also had to be condemned for attacking civilian infrastructure in Gaza.