The BBC issued a formal correction to their misreporting of the Israeli military operation in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital Wednesday.
“As BBC News covered initial reports that Israeli forces had entered Gaza’s main hospital, we said that “medical teams and Arab speakers” were being targeted. This was incorrect and misquoted a Reuters report,” the BBC said in a press release. (RELATED: New IDF Video Suggests Hamas Used Hospital To Store Weapons And Hostages)
The British news channel stated that they ought to have said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had “included medical teams and Arabic speakers for this operation.”
The actual Reuters source quotes the IDF as saying that these specialized teams and speakers were incorporated in the IDF response to the “complex and sensitive environment” that al-Shifa hospital presented and that the IDF operation intends to avoid civilian casualties.
The BBC’s initial reporting made it appear that the Israelis were intending to harm non-combatants in the hospital. Israel maintains that the hospital has been used for military purposes by Hamas, an accusation denied by Hamas.
Israel’s military says it is carrying out a “targeted” operation against Hamas in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Follow our live updates https://t.co/TdppxL8Lb0
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) November 15, 2023
This is not the first time that the BBC has gotten into hot water over its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Back in October, hundreds protested outside the new channel’s London headquarters over its refusal to brand Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Similarly, international legal expert Natasha Hausdorff criticized the BBC back in October. “The allegation that you have raised, Katya [the BBC host], is a reprehensible moral equivalence … It is utterly morally repugnant. It also attaches [of course] to the suggestion of proportionality in international law. That is about comparing causality figures. And that is also not correct,” said Hausdorff in an interview with the BBC.