On July 27th the BBC News website published a report which was originally headlined “Israeli strike on Gaza school ‘kills 30’”. Later in the day that headline was amended to read “Israeli strike on Gaza school killed 30 – health ministry” and the report was credited to Mallory Moench who joined the corporation in May of this year.
The presentation of the incident described in the headline of that 594-word report includes sixty-eight words pertaining to IDF announcements:
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Telegram that a Hamas command and control centre was embedded inside the Khadija School.
The IDF added that Hamas used the compound as a hiding place to direct and plan attacks and store weapons. […]
The IDF said that before the strike it took steps to reduce the risk to civilians “including the use of appropriate munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence”.”
By contrast, Hamas’ version of the story is presented in 133 words.
“Israel’s military has struck a school near Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza, killing at least 30 Palestinians and injuring more than 100, according to the Hamas-run ministry of health. […]
Gaza’s health ministry said footage showed the victims were civilians and most of them were children. The BBC verified a video that shows children among the injured.
Gaza’s civil defence service said the school was sheltering displaced people. Hamas said in a statement on Telegram that the report the school was being used for military purposes was “false” and “displaced, sick and wounded people, most of whom were women and children” were killed. […]
Gaza’s health ministry said 53 people had been killed and 189 injured since Saturday morning due to IDF bombing in Deir al-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis.”
Moench fails to clarify that “Gaza’s civil defence service” is a Hamas-run body which has been the source of several problematic BBC stories in recent months. Despite providing amplification to Hamas’ claim that “most” of those killed “were children”, she fails to inform readers that IDF announcements also included the following:
“According to the IDF, the strike killed Hamas operatives hiding within the United Nations school being used as shelter for displaced Palestinians.”
In addition to the unquestioned claims from bodies run and controlled by the Hamas terrorist organisation which started the current war, readers find an account from a “witness” and a 47-word portrayal of a Tweet from an EU official.
“Witness Mustafa Rafati told the BBC the explosion shook his body and he fell from the blow. Afraid, he said he ran inside the school and saw body parts in a “terrifying scene.”
“I was shocked,” he said.” […]
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke out against the Deir al-Balah strike on X, writing that it occurred “at the same time an already very fragile population is asked to relocate again and again, with no end in sight”.
“Ceasefire has to happen now,” he wrote.”
Moench’s failure to mention that the school is an UNRWA facility means that she was able to avoid providing her readers with context concerning the repeated and long-known exploitation of UNRWA schools and use of civilians as human shields by Hamas and other terrorist organisations.
As we see, Mallory Moench appears to have quickly learned the BBC methodology of presenting ‘he said-she said’ accounts – including those provided by a terrorist organisation – on an equal footing, without any independent BBC reporting or verification.
Moench’s report also relates to another incident, providing an account from just one source:
“Also on Saturday, in the West Bank, a 17-year-old and a 24-year-old were killed and 22 people were injured in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus as a result of Israeli military action, the Palestinian Authority’s ministry of health said.
The BBC has contacted the IDF about the reports.”
Moench fails to inform her readers that on the morning of July 27th an IDF soldier was injured in a shooting attack on an army post near Nablus (Schem) and that during the search for the attackers, a strike was carried out against terrorists who shot at troops operating in Balata. As reported by the Times of Israel:
“Palestinian media identified the slain men as Louay Masha, 17, and Ali Hashash, 24. Masha was identified as a member of an armed group in Balata.”
Both Masha and Hashash were claimed as operatives by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in an official announcement and were given a military funeral.
That, of course, is a very different story to the one told by Moench.
