Since the commencement of Israel’s war against Hamas, we have seen a barrage of false reporting about the conflict.
And on Wednesday, that trend continued with the BBC.
During a broadcast, BBC journalist Monica Miller committed an atrocious mistake — though that is not really a strong enough word.
“We are hearing from Reuters… that Israel says its forces are carrying out an operation in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, and they are targeting people including medical teams as well as Arab speakers,” Miller said confidently.
She noted Israel is calling on Hamas operatives in the hospital to surrender and then repeated the false claim that it is targeting “Arab speakers” and medical teams.
Watch the video below:
IDF: “we’ve taken medical teams & Arabic speakers to Al-Shifa hospital to ensure medical supplies reach those in need”.
— Daniel Sugarman (@Daniel_Sugarman) November 15, 2023
BBC News: IDF “are targeting people including medical teams as well as Arab speakers.”
Remind me why we pay the license fee again?
pic.twitter.com/AJpMX3VVk3
The claim that Israel is going into the hospital and spraying bullets at medical workers and people who speak Arabic regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with Hamas is a truly explosive claim and would make Israel an absolute monster guilty of horrendous crimes.
However, the only problem is that it is not true. And it is not even close to what Reuters reported.
Whoever saw that Reuters report either willfully or through an incredible lack of reading comprehension or an anti-Israel bias falsely fed Miller what the report said.
After the broadcast, the BBC issued a correction that read, “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. We should have said IDF forces included medical teams and Arabic speakers for this operation. We apologise for this error, which fell below our usual editorial standards. The correct version of events was broadcast minutes later and we apologised for the mistake on air later in the morning,” it added.
BBC News – an apology pic.twitter.com/qLyKvzWNBx
— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) November 15, 2023
Psh, no big deal right? Who could fail to understand the difference between working with medical teams and slaughtering them en masse?
Never mind the fact Israel delivered medical supplies and baby food to the hospital even though it is believed Hamas has a command node under it, and there is a risk those supplies could be diverted by terrorists.
This error is unacceptable and shameful, but it is also inexplicable.
Yes, mistakes happen with breaking news stories and details are falsely reported in the moment without malicious intent. But if you cannot even read a report from another outlet and transmit that information properly in such a heated moment, you probably should find another career.