While the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page content has in recent days focused mainly on events in Israel and Iran, visitors have also seen some coverage of the Gaza Strip in the form of reports relating to alleged incidents at aid distribution centres.
On June 20th the BBC News website published a report by Rushdi Abualouf titled “Israeli military kills 23 Palestinians near aid site in Gaza, witnesses and medics say” which, like previous BBC reporting on similar alleged events at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution centres, is based on unverified accounts provided by “witnesses and medics”.
Some two hours after its initial publication, that report was amended to include comments made at a press briefing in Geneva by UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.
“Unicef also warned that Gaza was facing a man-made drought as its water systems were collapsing. Just 40% of drinking water production facilities were still functioning, Mr Elder said.
“Children will begin to die of thirst,” he said, adding: “We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza.”” [emphasis added]
Another UN body – the World Health Organisation – provides the following appraisal of “the minimum quantity of water needed” in emergency situations:
“Based on estimates of requirements of lactating women who engage in moderate physical activity in above-average temperatures, a minimum of 7.5 litres per capita per day will meet the requirements of most people under most conditions. This water needs to be of a quality that represents a tolerable level of risk. However, in an emergency situation, a minimum of 15 litres is required. A higher quantity of about 20 litres per capita per day should be assured to take care of basic hygiene needs and basic food hygiene. Laundry/bathing might require higher amounts unless carried out at source.”
A European Commission document cites “total basic water needs” as being between 7.5 – 15 litres per day and the BBC itself has previously told its audiences that they “should drink between 1.5 and 1.8 litres of water per day”.
After James Elder’s remarks were widely promoted by assorted media organisations and others, COGAT put out a clarification on social media:
“Unfortunately, the statement issued by the spokesperson for UNICEF @1james_elder is lacking and fails to accurately reflect the facts, relying on selective and incorrect data.
Contrary to his statement, Israel allows and facilitates the supply of water to the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, the water supply to the Gaza Strip is based on two water lines – from the north and south of the Strip – in addition to the use of dozens of local wells and desalination facilities.
As part of efforts to provide a response in the field of water supply, and in accordance with the current situation assessment, the water supply stands at approximately 31 liters per person per day in the northern part of the Strip and approximately 43 liters per person per day in the south.”
Just a month ago we saw how the BBC is perfectly happy to take any and every unverified claim – no matter how bizarre – made by someone with ‘UN’ in their job title and give it uncritical worldwide amplification.
Not content with spreading Tom Fletcher’s ’14,000 babies will die in 48 hours’ claim and after weeks of BBC promotion of the UN’s narrative concerning the GHF aid distribution centres, we now see the corporation blindly promoting misinformation from a UN employee who has misled BBC audiences in the past, without any effort made to authenticate his allegations or to provide audiences with factual information.
When is the BBC going to get over its chronic UN-nourished conformation bias?
Why is it even Israel’s and the West’s responsibility to supply, food, water, power to an Arab terrorist state? Should their Arab brethren be shouldering the burden? They are the ones who invented terrorism against Israel (and not just Israel) …
BBC loves to manipulate the truth according to their agenda of bad mouthing Israel and Jews at every opportunity they can.
This is just yet another of the many thousands it has manipulated over decades, all with the blessing of the Director General, the Corporation Chairman and the board of governors whilst the UK Jewish representative bodies turn a blind eye in the hope it will all disappear as they bury their heads in the sands, instead of standing proud and challenging the BBC