Channel 4 has been caught in a furious cover-up row after a spokesperson for the Israeli government claimed part of their interview was cut.
Writing on X, spokesman Eylon Levy claimed: “One of the bizarrest experiences as a spokesman is to have interviewers insist, ‘YOU HAVEN’T PROVEN OR VERIFIED THAT!’ and I then answer, ‘We took foreign media to see it, including the New York Times,’ then that exchange gets cut from the broadcast interview.”
During the interview Mr Levy and journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy were discussing whether evidence related to the conflict had been submitted to the United Nations investigation. In response, Mr Levy said that Israel could not trust the United Nations investigation into the conflict.
Mr Levy explained: “I can’t speak to the specific intelligence that has been shared with individual western powers, but that evidence is out there, it is clear. We do not trust the UN investigation that is taking place.
“The United Nations, which has been covering up the Hamas presence literally 20 metres underneath the UN headquarters in Gaza cannot be trusted to conduct any sort of internal review because the UN is part of the problem.”
Mr Levy’s claim comes as the Israel-Hamas war intensifies and pressure grows on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from attacking the city of Rafah in Gaza’s south and for both Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement over the release of hostages.
In recent weeks, Mr Netanyahu has rejected calls for a ceasefire, but pressure is growing on the leader to reach a deal with Hamas.
Speaking to Daily Express US, former Israeli Intelligence official Ali Melamed said the odds of both parties reaching an agreement within the next few days have increased.
They explained: “A deal between Israel and Hamas that sees a pause in hostilities and the release of hostages is within reach, and likely to be renegotiated and signed in the near term.
“Both parties are likely more amenable to renewed negotiations, Hamas living under the threat of Israel’s advancement on its final stronghold in Rafah and having been given a two-week ultimatum by Egypt over the weekend.
“Israel, despite the success of [Sunday]’s hostage rescue operation, has come under fire for the collateral damage reportedly wrought during the daring escape which saw two hostages returned to Israel.”
As well as facing pressure from the USA, Israel and Hamas are also facing pressure from Egypt which has put Hamas on notice to agree to a new deal. Melamed said Egypt was taking a leading role in the negotiations to potentially avoid dealing with the fallout from an invasion of Rafah.
He said: “Egypt remains the most potentially powerful advocate with Hamas’s Gaza-based leadership because it serves as the gateway to Gaza, controlling the flow of aid and evacuees going into and coming out of Gaza and can potentially limit the flow of people out of Gaza on Hajj during Ramadan.
“Egypt has set an ultimatum to Hamas of two weeks to negotiate and implement a deal.
“Egypt does not want Gazans to violate its sovereignty in their fleeing Israel’s advancement and has reinforced its border to avoid it being overrun as it has been historically when Gazans are fleeing danger, including those posed by Hamas itself.”
Following the interview, Krishnan Guru-Murthy released a statement on X. He said: “On Monday we ran an interview with @EylonALevy on the programme. He has released a small section recorded at his end that we didn’t broadcast. So here’s the full unedited 17 minutes which we obviously didn’t have time to put on the news but are happy to publish online.”
Express.co.uk has approached Channel 4 for comment.
