False allegations of widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip fueled the strongest rise in anti-Israel coverage by local American newspapers, new study shows, pointing to major shift in news media’s handling of the Arab-Israeli conflict.By World Israel News StaffNegative portrayals of Israel during the war increasingly filtered into local and regional newspapers across the United States, shaping the information and commentary reaching millions of Americans far beyond the country’s major national media outlets, according to a new study by the Jewish People Policy Institute.The study found that local opinion pages frequently reflected narratives that had gained prominence in national and international coverage, particularly false allegations that Israel was deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza.That narrative produced the sharpest increase in negative coverage of Israel during the two-and-a-half-year period examined, exceeding the effect of major military operations such as Israel’s entry into Rafah.Researchers analyzed approximately 3,000 opinion columns, editorials and letters to the editor published between January 2024 and June 2026 in 17 leading local and regional American newspapers.The publications serve major metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Seattle, Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Cleveland, Baltimore, Detroit and Houston.Unlike studies centered on national television networks or major newspapers with international readerships, the JPPI research focused on the local media consumed by residents in individual cities and states.The findings suggest that hostile narratives about Israel did not remain confined to national political debate or elite media circles. They also reached local opinion pages, where they were repeated and adapted for regional audiences.Negative coverage peaked in August 2025, during a campaign accusing Israel of causing widespread starvation in Gaza. Nearly 48% of the opinion pieces examined that month were classified as negative toward Israel.More than 40% of the articles published during the period included terms such as “hunger” and “starvation,” demonstrating what the researchers described as the narrative’s powerful influence on local public debate.The findings showed that the events receiving the greatest amount of attention were not always those that generated the most negative treatment.Israel’s entry into Rafah in May 2024 produced the highest overall number of Israel-related opinion pieces during the study period. Despite that unusually large volume of coverage, only about one-third of the articles were classified as negative.The researchers said the difference between the volume and tone of coverage was one of the study’s most significant findings.A major military operation could dominate the news without necessarily producing the greatest hostility toward Israel. Humanitarian allegations accompanied by disturbing images, however, appeared much more likely to change the tone of local commentary.Coverage surrounding Israel’s Operation Rising Lion in June 2025 was comparatively balanced, despite the large number of articles published that month.Approximately 27% of the pieces were classified as negative toward Israel, while another 27% were classified as positive.The balance shifted significantly during Operation Roar of the Lion in March 2026. During that period, approximately 37% of the articles were negative, compared with just 11% that were positive.The researchers said the increase may have resulted from direct American involvement in the military campaign and the spread of a media narrative claiming that Israel had strongly influenced the Trump administration’s decisions concerning the war with Iran.Some local commentary adopted the allegation that Israel had dragged President Donald Trump into the conflict.The study also found that political language originating inside Israel sometimes migrated into American local media.One article published in the Philadelphia area accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “abandoning the hostages” and described ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir as “messianic fundamentalists.”The researchers said the example showed how local American publications sometimes reproduced not only international criticism of Israel, but also terminology taken directly from Israel’s internal political disputes.The second hostage agreement in January 2025 coincided with one of the lowest levels of negative coverage recorded during the study.The researchers said the finding suggested that reporting focused directly on the suffering and release of Israeli hostages could temporarily soften the tone of local commentary toward Israel.In August 2024, a combination of several developments contributed to another rise in negative coverage.Those events included the recovery of hostages’ bodies, allegations involving the Sde Teiman detention facility and an Israeli strike on the Al-Taba’een school compound in Gaza.Israel said the strike killed dozens of terrorists, while Palestinians claimed that numerous civilians were also killed. The incident prompted widespread international condemnation.Approximately 31% of the opinion pieces published that month were classified as negative toward Israel, while 15% were positive. The remainder were neutral.The February 2024 aid-convoy incident in northern Gaza, commonly referred to as the “flour incident,” also produced an increase in negative local coverage.The incident occurred when a large crowd of Palestinians rushed toward humanitarian aid trucks. Dozens of people were killed amid crowding and gunfire, leading to international criticism of Israel.Approximately 30% of the related coverage was classified as negative toward Israel, compared with 20% positive and 50% neutral.JPPI President Shuki Friedman said the study demonstrated the importance of examining local media rather than focusing exclusively on prominent national publications and television networks.“The study provides a rare glimpse into how the opinions of millions of Americans are shaped by focusing attention on local media — a layer of the media that has so far received very little research — and demonstrates that sometimes it is precisely from the local arena that deep changes in society can be identified,” Friedman said.Friedman said the findings showed that humanitarian narratives were especially effective in shaping how Israel was portrayed and perceived.“The study teaches us that humanitarian issues greatly affect the way Israel is perceived, a reminder that in the wars of the 21st century, the battle for international legitimacy is conducted alongside the military campaign, and at times is no less important,” he said.The post Anti-Israel media bias trickled down to local newspapers during Gaza war, marking major shift in coverage appeared first on World Israel News.