On October 16th the BBC News website published a report by David Gritten under the headline “Yemen’s Houthis say military chief of staff Mohammed al-Ghamari killed”.
Relating to a statement issued by the Yemeni terrorist organisation on the same day, the report opens by telling BBC audiences that:
“Yemen’s Houthi movement says its military chief of staff, Mohammed al-Ghamari, has been killed.
A statement gave no details, but it did say that Ghamari and his teenage son died during what it described as the “honourable battle against the Israeli enemy”.”
Later in the report, readers find the following:
“The Houthi statement published on Thursday acknowledged that “a large number of great martyrs, both civilians and military personnel” were killed during what it called the “criminal American-Zionist aggression against the country” over the past two years.
“The martyred leader, Major General Mohammed Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, along with some of his companions and his martyred son, Hussein, aged 13, ascended as a blessed martyr in the course of his jihadist work and the fulfilment of his religious duty,” it added.
The group declared that such deaths were “a source of pride” and that they would be avenged.
“The rounds of conflict with the enemy have not ended, and the Zionist enemy will receive its deterrent punishment for the crimes it has committed,” it warned.”
Gritten tells readers that:
“Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Ghamari “died of wounds” he sustained in an Israeli air strike in Yemen’s capital Sanaa in late August, which also killed the Houthi government’s prime minister and other ministers.”
However, Gritten does not clarify to BBC audiences that while it is not known exactly when al-Ghamari died, since that August 28th strike he has not been seen in public and the Houthis have not reported on his condition, despite having since released announcements in his name.
BBC audiences are not informed of al-Ghamari’s record or of the fact that he was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2021. On the topic of the Houthi attacks against Israel overseen by al-Ghamari, readers find only the following: [emphasis added]
“The Israeli military has carried out many rounds of strikes in Houthi-controlled Yemen in response to repeated Houthi drone and missile attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping linked to the Gaza war. […]
They [the Houthis] began attacking Israel and international shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden shortly after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, saying they were acting in support of the Palestinians.”
Particularly in light of the BBC’s repeated failure to inform its audiences of the scale of Houthi attacks against Israel, readers would be unlikely to understand that Gritten’s reference to “repeated Houthi drone and missile attacks” in fact relates to 105 separate incidents over two years.
Neither does Gritten’s report make any mention of the announcement of the appointment of a new Houthi chief of staff (apparently a relative of the Houthi leader) on the same day that news of al-Ghamari’s death was made public.
“The Houthis announced that al-Ghamari would be succeeded by Yousef Hassan al-Madani, commander of the group’s Fifth Regional Corps, which controls Yemen’s Red Sea coastal areas and directs its naval forces.”
As noted by the FDD, al-Madani is also sanctioned by the US.
“The Houthis announced on October 16 that Maj. Gen. Yusuf Hassan Ismail al-Madani, also known as Abu Husayn, has been appointed as al-Ghamari’s replacement. Al-Madani, who was designated a terrorist by the United States in May 2021, traveled to Iran in 2002 to train with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He later took on a prominent military role in the Houthis’ campaign against the Yemeni government, including the successful 2014 takeover of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in addition to leading forces and offensives in other regions. Al-Madani previously commanded the Houthis’ 5th Military Region — which includes coastal regions such as Hodeidah, Hajjah, Al Mahawit, and Raymah governorates — from where the terrorist organization has launched attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.”
Clearly the BBC could have provided information more useful than the mere quoting and paraphrasing of the statement put out by the Houthis had it actually aspired to enhance audience understanding of why Mohammed al-Ghamari was considered an important target by Israel.
David Griten is the type of dross employed by the BBC, like most in his class they deliberately drop known facts or words to make their reports fit their policy as dictated to by Deborah Turness (director BBC News) who acts as directed by Tim Davie the anti semitic Director General!