The BBC, which has presented an editorial slant against Israel for years, was forced to apologize Wednesday for falsely accusing Israel Defense Forces of committing war crimes in its attack on a Hamas command node at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
A BBC presenter falsely claimed twice on air that Reuters had reported that the IDF had targeted medical teams as well as Arabic speakers, instead of what Reuters actually reported, which was that the IDF had included medical teams and Arabic speakers on its team.
“We are hearing from Reuters that is reporting that Israel’s — it says its forces are carrying out an operation against Hamas in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital and they are targeting people, including medical teams as well as Arabic speakers. They are also saying that Israel is calling on all Hamas operatives in the hospital to surrender at this point,” the BBC presenter claimed, then repeated, “Once again we are hearing from Reuters that Israel says that its forces are carrying out an operation against Hamas in that hospital that we had just heard of; they are targeting Arabic speakers as well as some of the medical staff there and they are asking all Hamas operatives in the hospital to surrender.”
In the original broadcast, the BBC newscaster made sure to repeat the scandalous lie twice in case anyone missed it or misunderstood it. https://t.co/uio5O44Jri pic.twitter.com/pUGaFNO38y
— Adam Fisher (@AdamRFisher) November 15, 2023
Later, another presenter offered a muted apology on behalf of the network, stating, “And now, an apology from the BBC. BBC News, as it covered initial reports that Israeli forces had entered Gaza’s main hospital. We said that medical teams and Arabic 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 apologize for this error, which fell below our usual editorial standards,” she concluded.
BBC-
If you don't want to apologize over and over again for the false information you propagate against Israel – maybe just start publishing the truth? pic.twitter.com/uc62A93yqG— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) November 15, 2023
The BBC’s “usual editorial standards” regarding Israel have included, among numerous others, BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen describing leaflets dropped by Israel warning the civilian residents of northern Gaza to move south to safety as “a non-lethal airdrop but full of menace”; BBC News presenter Anjana Gadgil declaring, “The Israeli forces are happy to kill children,”; BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson justifying the BBC’s refusal to describe what he called the “Hamas gunmen who carried out appalling atrocities in southern Israel” as terrorists, and several journalists working for the BBC who posted anti-Israel tweets such as calling Israel the “terrorist apartheid state of Israel” and another that labeled all Israelis “terrorists.”