One of the most disturbing elements of media coverage in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre is their willingness to accept at face value the claims of the proscribed terror groups which carried out that barbaric atrocity, while expressing far more skepticism over statements made by Jerusalem.
The latest example concerns coverage of an IDF’ attack on an active Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad command room embedded within a mosque in the al-Taba’een school complex, in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood. The military said the site was used by the terror operatives as a hideout and to plan and carry out attacks against IDF troops in Gaza and against Israel.
The strikes began at roughly 4:40 am (IST).
By 5:45, the Hamas media office was already able to calculate the death toll, placing it at more than 100.
At 8:00, Associated Press (AP) claimed the number of dead was 60, based on a statement by the Gaza ambulance service,
At 12:20PM, the head of al-Ahli hospital, Dr. Fadel Naim (who promoted the al-Ahli hospital libel back in October) gave an interview and claimed the number of dead who reached his hospital was 80, among whom 70 were already identified.
At 14:00, the Hamas-controlled civil defense said, on Telegram, that there were 93 dead.
At 14:29, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said they had counted 40 dead in the hospitals in the 24 hours prior to that time (a time period which includes the IDF attack at 4:40, as well as two other attacks on Friday).
It’s hard to reconcile these disparate claims of different Hamas bodies.
For Israel’s part, the IDF described the various Hamas casualty figures as grossly inflated, and, by 10:20 (IST) on Saturday morning, released this statement, claiming 20 terrorists were killed in the attack. They said that footage from after the strike showed that there was no major damage to the surrounding school complex.
Based on Israeli intelligence, approx. 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, including senior commanders, were operating from the compound struck at the Al-Tabaeen school, using it to carry out terrorist attacks.
The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, served as…— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) August 10, 2024
By Saturday evening, the IDF released the names and titles of of the 19 terrorists killed.
Today, the IDF and ISA struck terrorists operating in a Hamas command and control center, which was embedded inside a mosque in the Al-Taba’een school compound. Following an intelligence investigation, it can be confirmed at this time that at least 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad… pic.twitter.com/97fw1Q9cHy
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 10, 2024
This morning, the IDF stated that the terrorist death toll was 31.
So far, there have been a confirmed 31 terrorists eliminated in the strike on the Hamas stronghold in the Al-Taba’een school, where the terrorists planned to execute attacks against Israel.
Here are their names and positions in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist… pic.twitter.com/7MsnhSd80M
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 12, 2024
Here’s how British media outlets covered it.
ITV News
A ITV News broadcast on Sunday, at 9:30 BST went with the highest Hamas total, stating as fact that up to 100 were killed.
The Independent
The Independent, in an article published on Sunday, and co-written by Bel Trew, Salma Ouaguira and Nedal Hamdouna, included this headline:
Terror and death as Israel strikes school in Gaza during prayers
Here’s the strapline, which also uses the highest Hamas figure, stating it as a fact rather than an unevidenced claim:
Palestinians describe the harrowing moment IDF targeted al-Tabaeen school in Gaza City, killing 100 people
It’s only several paragraphs into the article that the 100 number is attributed to Hamas. Further, the IDF statement, and terrorist casualty figures, were only cited in the 11th paragraph of the article.
The Guardian
A Guardian article on Saturday, 17:48 BST, by Bethan McKernan, told readers that at least 80 were killed, which it attributed to “Palestinian officials”.
Israel strikes on Gaza school site kill at least 80, Palestinian officials say
The Telegraph
A Telegraph article on Saturday 20:39 BST, written by their Global Health editor Paul Nuki, was better than most we reviewed, telling readers, in the headline, that “dozens” were “reportedly” killed:
Israeli air strike on school complex reportedly kills dozens in Gaza
The strapline provides context about the Hamas commanders hiding at the site:
The Israeli military says Hamas commanders and operatives were hiding in a mosque
Further, unlike other outlets, the article makes clear, when citing the casualty numbers of the Civil Defence agency, that it is a “Hamas-controlled” agency. Unfortunately, however, Israel’s version of events isn’t included till the 6th paragraph.
Channel 4 News
A video report on Saturday at Channel 4 News, by foreign affairs correspondent Secunder Kermani, included one of the Hamas casualty count claims as fact:
Israeli airstrike on Gaza school kills over 70
The four minute broadcast includes the claims of Gaza “rescue officials” that they found over 100 bodies, and all but erases Hamas from the story. Though there’s a brief part alluding to the IDF statement about the terrorist command center at the school, the presenter later claims that Israel has launched “over dozen such strikes on schools” in recent months, while omitting the fact that such ‘attacks’ have always targeted terrorists who were illegally using such civilian facilities – and only after issuing warnings and evacuations for civilians.
The desired take-away is clear: that Israel’s military intentionally kills civilians by launching attacks on schools and other non-military targets.
The Times
An article in the Times, published on Saturday at 18:35 BST, by Amal Helles, includes this headline, using the 90 figure, though in scare quotes:
Pressure grows for ceasefire as Israeli strike on Gaza school ‘kills 90’
The article clarifies, four paragraphs down, that the 90 figure is based on “authorities in Gaza”. This is followed by a ver brief paragraph on the Israeli version of events. It’s only in the 13th paragraph where a more detailed IDF explanation is provided.
As with Channel 4 News, the Times journalist also writes, in a sentence that could have been published by Hamas’s media office, that “the Israeli military has struck numerous schools and hospitals over the past ten months since the October 7 attacks“, without explaining that the targets were hit because of terrorists’ presence at those facilities, and only after extensive warnings and evacuations of civilians.
Further, the Times’ cartoonist, Peter Schrank, pushed the genocide libel in his depiction of the Saturday incident
My #cartoon for @thetimes of 12/8/24#ParisOlympics2024 #Gaza #GazaGenocide #NetanyahuWarCriminal #Olympics #MiddleEastWar pic.twitter.com/UwwfyjFhnT
— PeterSchrank (@schrankartoons) August 12, 2024
Daily Mail
A Daily Mail article on Saturday, 12:05 BST, by Lettice Bromovsky, includes the following headline:
Dozens are killed and others wounded in Israeli airstrike on school in Gaza City
Here’s the strapline:
The airstrike hit Tabeen school in central Gaza City, about 100 people were killed
The most notable aspect of the report is the final sentence of the first four paragraphs:
Palestinian health authorities say an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City on Saturday, killing more than 100 people.
The Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency service said the strike on the Tabeen school in central Gaza City also wounded 47 people.
The Israeli military acknowledged the strike, claiming it hit a Hamas command centre within the school.
It did not provide evidence.
Remarkably, the Mail journalist expresses more skepticism over intuitive Israeli allegations that Hamas exploited a school for military purposes than she did over Hamas’s casualty figures.
Sky News
A Sky News article published on Saturday at 16:53 BST, written by Claire Gilbody Dickerson, included this headline, claiming 80 killed.
80 people killed in Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, Palestinian health officials say
However, as with the Daily Mail article, the Sky reporter expresses more skepticism about Israeli claims than the claims of the proscribed terror group:
The number of people killed in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City has risen to 80, Palestinian health officials have said.
An estimated 6,000 displaced people were sheltering in Tabeen school when it was struck by three missiles, according to a spokesperson for the Civil Defence agency, which operates under the Hamas-run government.
The Israeli army said it had struck a “Hamas control centre” but did not provide evidence and Hamas denied having a base at the school.
Financial Times
An article published on Sunday by their former Jerusalem correspondent Mehul Srivastava stated, as fact, that 80 were killed in the strike
Israel orders more Gaza evacuations after school strike kills 80
The second paragraph repeats the false claim in the headline that it’s been “confirmed” that 80 were killed.
The forced evacuation order of parts of Khan Younis comes as the death toll from Saturday’s air strike on a school in Gaza City was confirmed to be at least 80, after original estimates of about 100.
In the 5th paragraph, the article includes one sentence on the IDF’s reason for the strike, but, unlike with Hamas’s claims, the journalist expressed doubt over the veracity of the military’s explanation.
Israel has claimed, without providing evidence, that the school where hundreds of families were seeking shelter was being used as a Hamas “command and control” centre, and that 19 militants were killed.
Conclusion:
Though there are some differences in the outlets’ framing of the Saturday incident in Gaza City, almost all prioritise – and give considerable credibility to – Hamas’s narrative and unevidenced claims, while relegating Israeli military statements to the journalistic equivalent of throat-clearing. They dutifully ticked the ‘impartiality’ box, while making it clear to their readers and viewers that they shouldn’t take IDF statements too seriously.
Though none of the outlets we reviewed explicitly stated that the IDF wantonly murdered innocent Palestinians sheltering in a school, that, we believe, is the incendiary libel conveyed in the totality of the headlines, text, photos and framing.
The media’s credulity when being fed propaganda by the totalitarian, Islamist extremist group which carried out the worst antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust defies any rational explanation, evokes very few historical precedents, and is nothing short of a moral stain on their profession.
We’re seeing a toxic mix of fashionable masochistic anti-Westism, dictator capture (i.e you don’t want to offend your source of information), fear and adulation of Islam, leftist antisemitism and high numbers of Muslims among the staff.
The BBC is irredeemably corrupt.
Huw Edwards, the BBC’s leading newsreader, last month pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children between December 2020 and August 2021. As online news channel GB News has stated, the BBC “knew EXACTLY what was going on” as they payed the newsreader a taxpayer salary. He has received £200,000 since his arrest and was not dismissed but resigned, citing mental health grounds.
This is all very reminiscent of the late BBC 50-year employee and paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile who died in 2011 without having been exposed, convicted or punished. Then there is a string of other BBC employee paedophiles, including the late Rolf Harris.