As readers are no doubt aware, UN OCHA’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has in the past demonstrated a propensity for promoting dramatic claims that do not reflect reality or stand up to scrutiny. That has not however prevented the BBC from providing him with platforms from which to promote even more misinformation.
On October 18th the BBC News website published a filmed report titled “‘We’re turning the tide on Gaza starvation crisis’ – UN aid chief”.
“The head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has told the BBC the tide is turning on starvation in Gaza, as more aid enters the territory after Donald Trump’s ceasefire deal.
Speaking from Gaza City, Tom Fletcher said “hundreds of trucks a day” were now entering the coastal enclave, but warned that it was a “huge” job to get vital supplies to those in need.
He also urged the international community to support efforts to provide a million meals a day and to get the health sector up and running.”
Viewers of that item are told by Fletcher that:
“We are getting hundreds of trucks in a day now and thousands of trucks a week. That’s a big shift from where we were before President Trump’s ceasefire deal…”
The ceasefire agreement was signed on October 9th. The days before and after that saw Israeli national holidays during which the crossings into the Gaza Strip were closed but on working days, hundreds of trucks entered the Gaza Strip through several crossings.
September 25th: 430 trucks entered, 310 trucks collected by the UN and other organisations.
September 28th: 400 trucks entered, 320 trucks collected by the UN and other organisations. Fuel tankers entered.
September 29th: 430 trucks entered, 330 trucks collected by the UN and other organisations. Fuel tankers entered.
September 30th: 11 water tankers entered.
October 5th: inspections were carried out at an additional crossing in order to boost the amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip before the holidays. 600 trucks entered.
October 8th: 510 trucks entered, 300 trucks collected by the UN and other organisations. Fuel tankers entered.
October 9th: 500 trucks entered, 300 trucks collected by the UN and other organisations. Fuel tankers entered.
In other words, Fletcher’s claim that the entry of hundreds of trucks a day is “a big shift from where we were” is misleading misinformation.
Fletcher also tells viewers that:
“I was at a bakery yesterday where they’re now – as of yesterday – producing 300,000 pieces of bread a day.”
On October 8th COGAT had already reported that 4.2 million pita breads were being produced in the Gaza Strip every day.
Fletcher also states:
“We need to get all those crossings open.”
A day earlier he had inaccurately claimed on social media that aid trucks were entering via the Kerem Shalom crossing because of the ceasefire. In fact, that crossing and others had been fully operational long before the ceasefire came into effect, with hundreds of lorries entering each working day.
Fletcher also tells BBC audiences that:
“We need to get the commercial market to start operating properly again.”
Markets, shops, supermarkets, cafes and restaurants are already operating in the Gaza Strip.
Although it is blatantly obvious that Tom Fletcher’s statements and claims do nothing to contribute to BBC audience understanding of the food situation as a whole in the Gaza Strip, the BBC nevertheless continues to provide him with a platform from which to promote his unhelpful misinformation.
