One of many questions to be asked about BBC News website coverage of the current war concerns the practice – often by staff on the night desk – of rushing to put out content based on the claims of just one source, before the details of what happened have become clear. One such example is a report published early on the morning of August 27th under the headline “Palestinian health ministry says six killed in West Bank attacks”.
All the writer of that report – Robert Greenall – had to tell readers of its original version about the main story behind that headline appeared in the first two paragraphs:
“At least five people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the strike, on the Nur Shams camp near the city of Tulkarm, saying it had targeted what it called the command room of a “terror cell”.”
Had Greenall waited until the details of that incident became clear, he may have understood that his qualifying term “what it called” and his scare quotes around the words “terror cell” were entirely superfluous. As reported by the Times of Israel: [emphasis added]
“The Israel Defense Forces carried out a drone strike Monday night in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem, with the Palestinian Authority health ministry reporting five people were killed.
The military said the target of the strike was a command room belonging to local terror operatives, but did not immediately provide further details.
Palestinian media reported that among the dead was Jibril Jibril, a Hamas member who was released by Israel in a November deal with the Gaza-ruling terror group. […]
Jibril had been jailed for hurling explosive devices, stone-throwing, and being a member of Hamas.”
“A warehouse full of explosives was bombed in the attack, according to the Palestinians. […]
One of the dead is Jibril Jibril, 20, from Qalqilya, a member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. He was released from prison in Israel as part of the hostage for prisoner deal between Israel and the terrorist organization in November, and shortly after his release he carried out several shootings and became a wanted man.
According to the Palestinians, the warehouse that was attacked is behind the house of the commander of the Tulkarm Battalion of Islamic Jihad, Abu Shuja’a, who has been the target of previous assassination attempts.”
All five of those described by Greenall only as “people” were mourned by Hamas, which claimed Jibril Jibril and Muhannad Qaraawi as its members, with the three others – including a bomb-maker named Adnan Jaber – belonging to another terrorist group.
Greenall later told his readers that:
“The Nur Shams camp has been targeted by the IDF several times in recent months.
In April, the Palestinian Red Crescent said 14 people died in a two-day Israeli operation.
And in July the IDF bulldozed the camp’s main street.”
The Nur Shams camp has indeed been the site of counter-terrorism operations on several occasions – including before the current war – due to the fact that it has become a major terror hub. Greenall refrained from telling his readers that the reason why “the IDF bulldozed the camp’s main street” in July was because terrorists planted IEDs there, causing the death of an IDF soldier. Similarly, Greenall failed to inform BBC audiences that of the “14 people” killed in April while attacking IDF troops, at least thirteen were male terrorists, three of whom were claimed by Hamas.
The initial version of Greenall’s report also told readers that:
“There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October.”
In fact – as the BBC should know because it published an unhelpful backgrounder on the topic in February 2023 – the “surge in violence” in Palestinian Authority controlled areas began long before the current war, with facilitation by Iranian proxy terrorist organisations.
Quoting the highly problematic UN agency OCHA, Greenall’s report continued:
“The UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last Wednesday that 128 Palestinians, including 26 children, had been killed in air strikes in the West Bank since 7 October.
It added that as of 19 August, 607 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – including seven by Israeli settlers.
Ten Israelis have also been killed in attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank, the agency adds.”
Greenall failed to tell his readers that the vast majority of the Palestinians killed in Judea & Samaria and Jerusalem since last October (and before) were perpetrators of terror attacks, terrorists and gunmen who attacked Israeli troops or males involved in rioting at the time.
Greenall uses a tactic previously seen in BBC reporting: his selective portrayal of the number of Israelis murdered “by Palestinians from the West Bank” means that readers are not told that the actual number of Israelis killed in terror attacks since October 7th 2023 is higher than the figure he quotes:
“During the same period, 27 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.”
A second incident was portrayed by Greenall as follows in the original version of his report:
“Separately, the Palestinian Authority said one person had been killed and three injured in an attack by Israeli settlers near Bethlehem. The IDF said it was investigating the reports. […]
In Monday’s second reported attack near Bethlehem, Palestinian media said dozens of Israeli settlers had entered the village of Wadi Rahhal, attacking residents.
The settlers shot dead a 40-year-old Palestinian man and wounded at least three others, Palestinian officials said.”
That incident (which was first announced by the PA ministry of health shortly before Greenall’s article was published and has already been used in Hamas incitement) is indeed still under investigation and the full picture is still unclear. The Times of Israel later reported that:
“According to the IDF, the incident began after Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli vehicles on a highway in the area. Israeli settlers arrived in the village area to confront the Palestinians and a clash erupted, according to the military.
IDF troops who were dispatched to the scene opened fire, hitting several Palestinians amid the clash.
The IDF says it is aware that a man was shot dead amid the incident and three others were wounded.
The slain man was named as Khalil Salem Khalawi, 37, although some reports said his surname was Ziadeh. He is an Israeli citizen but lived in the West Bank Palestinian village.
The IDF has launched an investigation into the conduct of the troops, while police are also investigating the clash between the civilians and settlers.”
Greenall ended the original version of his uninformative report by failing to clarify that the areas he chooses to call “the West Bank and East Jerusalem” were part of the territory allocated by the League of Nations for the creation of a Jewish homeland before they were illegally invaded and occupied by Jordan for nineteen years. While Greenall has nothing to tell readers about Jordan’s decision to attack Israel during the Six Day War, he does take care to promote the standard yet partial BBC mantra concerning ‘international law’:
“Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land the Palestinians want as part of a future state – in the 1967 Middle East war.
The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.”
As we see, Robert Greenall did not wait for details of the two incidents that are ostensibly the topic of his report to become clear before publication. However, some six hours later, amendments were made, including to the headline which now reads “Six killed in West Bank strike and settler attack, Palestinian ministry says”.
The opening paragraphs of that updated version read as follows:
“At least five people, including two children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on an urban refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the strike, on Nur Shams camp near the city of Tulkarm, saying it had targeted what it called the command room of a “terror cell”.”
Readers are later told that:
“Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that an Israeli drone carried out the strike on a house in Nur Shams camp on Monday night and four loud explosions were heard.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the five people killed as Mohannad Qarawi, 19, Jibril Jibril, 20, Adnan Jaber, 15, Mohammed Yusif, 49, and Mohammed Elayyan, 16.”
Greenall did not bother to clarify to readers that the “house” was adjacent to an explosives store or that one of the “children” was Adnan Jaber who was involved in manufacturing IEDs. Adnan Jaber and Mohammed Elayyan (also Alian) were later claimed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as was Mohammed Yusif (Yusuf).
Making no mention of Palestinian terrorists groups’ recruitment of child soldiers, Greenall continues:
“Jibril Jibril was a member of Hamas who had been released from an Israeli prison in November as part of an exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, according to the Palestinian reports.”
However, Greenall does not tell BBC audiences that Jibril was the third terrorist released in November to have been killed in recent weeks due to terrorist activity.
Greenall’s amended portrayal of the second incident reads as follows:
“Later on Monday, the [Palestinian Authority] health ministry said a 40-year-old man named Khalil Salem Khalawi was shot dead during an attack by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Wadi Rahhal, south of Bethlehem. Three other people were wounded, it added.
Wafa cited the head of the village council, Hamdi Ziada, as saying that shots were fired as settlers attacked homes near the local boys’ school.
He also claimed that Israeli forces had entered the village to provide protection for the settlers and fired tear-gas at residents.
Israel’s Ynet news website reported that Mr Khalawi was an Israeli Arab and that he was shot dead by IDF soldiers who arrived in Wadi Rahhal following a claim by settlers that stones had been thrown at an Israeli vehicle. Settlers also clashed with residents of the village, it said.”
As noted above – and as Greenall obviously knows – the investigation into that incident is still ongoing, including the possibility that Khalawi was killed by IDF fire. Nevertheless, Greenall’s amended headline tells BBC audiences of “Six killed in West Bank strike and settler attack”, the by-line tells visitors to the BBC News website in no uncertain terms that one person was “shot dead by settlers” and he devotes three paragraphs to the promotion of unverified Palestinian claims.
It is entirely obvious that the initial version of this report – that the BBC News website published despite not yet having adequate information – failed to provide BBC audiences with an accurate and impartial account of the events that are its subject matter. That version remained online for six hours before being amended to include additional information but nevertheless fails to fully inform.
Members of the public who read the initial version of this report would be unlikely to return to it hours later. The question arising is why the BBC News website rushes to publish inadequate and even misleading content rather than waiting for the full range of information to become available, so that accurate and impartial coverage can be provided to the corporation’s funding public.
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