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Why Is the BBC Still Promoting Hamas’ Unverified and False Casualty Counts?
The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic / SOPA Images/Sipa USA.
Visitors to the BBC News website’s “Middle East” page early on the morning of September 10, were told that Israel had killed 40 people in a safe zone in the Gaza Strip:
Early versions of that report were credited to Rushdi Abualouf in Istanbul and Thomas Mackintosh in London, with the original headline reading as follows:
At least 40 people have been killed in southern Gaza and dozens more injured in Israeli strikes on a designated humanitarian zone, the Hamas-run Civil Defence authority said.
The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked an operations centre in Khan Younis belonging to Hamas militants using precision weaponry.
Local residents said three strikes targeted tents housing displaced people in the humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, west of the city of Khan Younis, causing huge craters.
“Forty people were killed and more than 60 injured, while many are still under the rubble,” the operations director of Hamas’s civil defence authority told the BBC.” […]
“Hamas rejected the Israeli military’s claims that there were Hamas fighters present in the area, calling it a “blatant” lie.
“The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or using these places for military purposes.” [emphasis added]
A later headline focused BBC audiences ‘attentions on the “safe zone” element of the story:
At least 40 people have been killed in southern Gaza and dozens more injured in Israeli strikes on a designated humanitarian zone, the Hamas-run Civil Defence authority has said.
The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked an operations centre in Khan Younis belonging to Hamas fighters, and it had taken steps to mitigate risk of harming civilians.
Local residents said three strikes targeted tents housing displaced people in the humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, west of the city of Khan Younis, causing seven metre-deep craters.
“Forty people were killed and more than 60 injured, while many are still under the rubble,” the operations director of Hamas’s Civil Defence authority told the BBC.
Despite plenty of past experience, clearly the BBC has yet to understand that its blind faith in claims put out by the Hamas-run Gaza civil defence is misplaced.
Some eight hours after the report’s original publication, its headline was changed again and David Gritten was added to the list of those credited:
The number of alleged casualties fell dramatically in that version of the BBC’s report:
At least 13 people have been killed in an overnight Israeli strike in the designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, a local hospital says.
Residents said three missiles hit a tented camp crowded with displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area, south-west of the city of Khan Younis, leaving 7m-deep (23ft) craters.
The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked what it called “a number of senior Hamas terrorists” operating there – a claim Hamas denied.
The military also disputed the initial death toll put out by the Hamas-run Civil Defence authority, which reported that rescue teams had recovered more than 40 bodies.
Nevertheless, that version of the report continued to repeat the original claim:
The Civil Defence’s operations director said overnight that more than 40 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured. He also warned that “many are still under the rubble”.
There was no immediate casualty report from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Later on Monday, an official at the nearby Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said 13 people killed in the strike had been brought there.
Readers were told that:
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said aircraft had conducted “a precise strike on a number of senior Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded inside the humanitarian area”.
They included Samer Abu Daqqa, head of Hamas’s aerial unit, and Osama Tabesh, head of the observation and targets department in Hamas’s military intelligence headquarters, it added.
As reported by the Israeli media, the third senior Hamas officer killed in that strike was named Ayman Mabhouh — and all three were directly involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel as well as subsequent attacks on IDF troops.
Nevertheless, the BBC’s report continued with uncritical promotion of blatant Hamas propaganda:
The IDF accused Hamas of embedding its operatives and military infrastructure in the humanitarian zone and using civilians as human shields.
A Hamas statement denounced the strike on al-Mawasi as a “heinous massacre” and rejected the IDF’s claim that it had a command centre there.
“This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or use these places for military purposes,” it said.
Roughly an hour later, the headline to that BBC report was changed yet again.
That version of the report likewise uncritically promotes Hamas talking points, including via an unidentified “freelance journalist”:
The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked what it called “a number of senior Hamas terrorists” operating there — a claim Hamas denied.”
“Aya Madi, a displaced mother of seven from the southern city of Rafah, told a freelance journalist working for the BBC: “We woke up to nothing but sand and fire. […]
She said all of those killed were civilians, adding that there was “not a single resistance fighter”.
A Hamas statement denounced the strike on al-Mawasi as a “heinous massacre” and rejected the IDF’s claim that it had a command centre there.
“This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or use these places for military purposes,” it said.
In the space of about 12 hours, the number of people killed according to the BBC went down by over half: from 40 to 19. The story behind that dramatic change is portrayed in that version of Abualouf and Gritten’s report as follows:
The [Israeli] military also disputed the initial death toll put out by the Hamas-run Civil Defence authority, which reported that rescue teams had recovered more than 40 bodies. […]
The Civil Defence’s operations director said overnight that more than 40 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured.
Later on Monday, the nearby Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said 13 people killed in the strike had been brought there. […]
In the afternoon, the Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement that hospitals had received a total of 19 bodies and more than 60 wounded people, some of whom were in a serious condition. It did not say how many were men, women or children.
In other words, sometime overnight on September 9-10, the BBC was told that 40 people had been killed in a strike in Khan Younis.
Whether that information came directly from one of the Hamas bodies promoting that number — the Gaza civil defense and the Hamas Government Media Office — or from a different source quoting them is unclear, but given that Istanbul-based Rushdi Abualouf (who just last month attended Hamas’ memorial for Ismail Haniyeh in Doha) was involved in the writing of all versions of this report, it would seem likely that he was the journalist who received that information.
Apparently though, the BBC has learned nothing from its past experiences and so even though it could not independently verify that remarkably swiftly announced alleged casualty toll — and despite knowing that its sources were the untrustworthy branches of the terrorist organization that initiated the current war — it decided to nevertheless promote it worldwide.
In this case, however, the IDF quickly challenged Hamas’ claims:
“In general, and according to a preliminary review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, which has consistently broadcast lies and false information throughout the war, do not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike,” the military said.
That led Hamas — this time via its health ministry — to issue a “clarification” including a much lower casualty count, and the BBC had to amend its report accordingly.
Hamas, however, got what it wanted: eight hours of worldwide headlines on the website of the world’s largest media organization about Israel killing 40 civilians in a safe zone, and repeated promotion of propaganda concerning its use of human shields.
The BBC nevertheless continues to claim that it produces news you can trust.
Hadar Sela is the co-editor of CAMERA UK — an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Why Is the BBC Still Promoting Hamas’ Unverified and False Casualty Counts? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Sanctions Six Firms in China, Hong Kong Over Iranian Drone Network
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The United States has sanctioned six entities in Hong Kong and China for allegedly participating in an Iranian drone procurement network, as the Trump administration advances its so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
These latest sanctions follow the US Treasury Department’s announcement earlier this week of new restrictions on Iran’s oil industry, targeting over 30 brokers, tanker operators, and shipping companies involved in transporting and selling Iranian petroleum.
On Wednesday, Washington issued these new sanctions against entities accused of procuring unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) components for the Iranian firm Pishtazan Kavosh Gostar Boshra and its subsidiary, Narin Sepehr Mobin Isatis, both already blacklisted by the US, calling them key suppliers to Iran’s UAV and ballistic missile programs.
“Iran continues to try to find new ways to procure the key components it needs to bolster its UAV weapons program through new front companies and third-country suppliers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“The Treasury remains committed to disrupting the schemes that enable Iran to send its deadly weapons abroad to its terrorist proxies and other destabilizing actors.”
According to a Reuters report, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said Beijing and Tehran’s cooperation was “reasonable and legal.”
“China has always firmly opposed the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises and citizens,” Pengyu said.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy toward Tehran, aiming to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
However, Trump also expressed a willingness to talk to Iran’s leaders, stating his desire to reach a “nuclear peace agreement” to improve bilateral relations, while insisting that the Iranian regime must not develop a nuclear weapon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected the possibility of nuclear talks with Washington, stating that Tehran would “not negotiate under pressure, threat, or sanctions.”
“There will be no possibility of direct talks between us and the United States on the nuclear issue as long as the maximum pressure is applied in this way,” Araghchi said during a joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also rejected the idea of negotiating with Washington, calling such a move “unwise” and “dishonorable.”
This week, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported that Iran has further accelerated its production of near weapons-grade uranium, according to a report by The Associated Press.
As of Feb. 8, Tehran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium reached 274.8 kilograms (605.8 pounds), an increase of 92.5 kilograms (203.9 pounds) since IAEA’s last report in November.
Iran has repeatedly claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than weapon development.
Last year, the UK, France, and Germany said in a statement that there is no “credible civilian justification” for Tehran’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
In their latest report, the IAEA estimated that Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stands at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds), an increase of 1,690.0 kilograms (3,725.8 pounds). The report also noted that Iran continues to ban some of the agency’s most experienced inspectors from monitoring the country’s nuclear program.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from in 2018, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and maintain a stockpile of no more than 300 kilograms.
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Contender in NYC Mayoral Race Has Extensive Anti-Israel Trackrecord
Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
A major contender in the New York City (NYC) mayoral race has an extensive anti-Israel track record, raising concerns among the Big Apple’s Jewish population that the city’s staunch support of the Jewish State may be in jeopardy.
Zohran Mamdani, a representative within the New York State Assembly and candidate for New York City mayor, has made anti-Israel activism a cornerstone of his political career. Mamdani, a self-described progressive and socialist, has both advanced state legislation seeking to punish Israel and has labelled the Jewish state’s defensive military operations in Gaza a “genocide.”
According to a poll conducted by Honan Strategy Group from Feb. 22-23, Mamdani currently sits in second place in the NYC mayoral race, polling at 12 percent. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a commanding lead at 38 percent.
In 2021, Mamdani issued public support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement—an initiative which seeks to economically and diplomatically isolate Israel in the first step to its eventual destruction. He claimed that support for the anti-Israel movement is growing within New York City, saying on X/Twitter that “The tide is turning. The fight for justice is here. The moment is now.” That same year, he also called for prohibiting New York lawmakers from visiting Israel, asserting that “every elected [official] must be pressured to stand with Palestinians.”
In May 2023, Mamdani advanced the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” legislation which would ban charities from using tax-deductible donations to aid organizations that work in the West Bank. Mamdani argued that the legislation would help the state fight against so-called Israeli “war crimes” against Palestinians. The socialist dismissed critics of the legislation, saying that his anti-Israel proposal is “in line with the sentiments of most New Yorkers.”
On Oct. 8, 2023, 24 hours following the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani published a statement condemning “Netnayahu’s declaration of war” and suggesting that Israel would use the terror attacks to justify committing a second “Nakba.” Mamdani then said that Israel can only secure its long term safety by “ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.”
Five days later, he further criticized Israel’s response to the Hamas-led massacres, saying that “we are brink of a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza right now”
In January 2024, he called on NYC to cease sending any funds to Israel, saying that “Voters oppose their tax dollars funding a genocide.”
The progressive firebrand is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a far-left political organization with critical views of Israel. Though the DSA has long opposed Israel, the organization has ramped up its pro-Hamas rhetoric during the ongoing war in Gaza. On Oct. 7, the organization issued a statement saying that Hamas’ massacre was “a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.” The organization also encouraged its followers to attend an Oct. 8 “All Out for Palestine” event in Manhattan.
In January 2024, the DSA issued a statement calling for an “end to diplomatic and military support of Israel.” Then in April, the organization’s international committee, DSA IC, issued a missive defending Iran’s right to “self-defense” against Israel. In addition, the socialist group slammed former US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) over his vote in favor of replenishing Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
The organization has also issued public support of Hamas, calling the terrorist group a “resistance” and “armed struggle” against Israel. In March 2024, the organization publicly repudiated progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), after the lawmaker condemned Hamas, arguing that Palestinians have a “right to defend against occupation.”
Mamdani’s political ascendence comes amid a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes within New York City.
New York City has been ravaged by a surge in antisemitic incidents in the 16 months following Oct. 7. According to NYPD data, Jews accounted for a majority of all hate crimes in the city. Pro-Hamas activists have held raucous—and sometimes violent—protests on the city’s college campuses, oftentimes causing Jewish students to fear for their safety. NYC schools are also currently facing criticism for failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from antisemitism.
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GOP Lawmakers Urge Trump to Recognize Israeli Sovereignty Over West Bank
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) Source: Reuters
A group of Republican lawmakers are urging US President Donald Trump to formally recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the West Bank, citing the territory’s historical ties and importance to the Jewish people.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), one of the most strident pro-Israel voices in Congress, spearheaded a letter to Trump, calling on the president to endorse an Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Other signatories of the letter include Mary Miller (R-IL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Randy Weber (R-TX), and Andy Harris (R-MD).
The coalition of pro-Israel Republicans—which are members of the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus—argue that the internationally recognized borders of the West Bank, “comprise the Judeo-Christian biblical heartland, where over 80 percent of the Torah and Old Testament took place.” Thus, the lawmakers claim that acknowledging Israel’s claim over the West Bank is central to reinforce America and Israel’s shared “Judeo-Christian heritage.”
The lawmakers argue that recognizing the West Bank as Israeli territory would help build upon his record of supporting the Jewish state. Letter pointed to Trump’s 2021 recognition of the City of David in Jerusalem as a “testament to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and founding principles.” The lawmakers claim that the West Bank, which they refer to as Judea and Samaria, is similarly critical to Israel’s national identity.
They also said that they were in “strong opposition to the recognition of any hostile Arab state in Judea and Samaria that supports terrorism and fails to recognize Israel.”
Israeli leaders have also publicly opposed the creation of a Palestinian state within the West Bank, arguing that the territory would become a hotbed of terrorism and launching pad for direct attacks into the Jewish state’s population centers.
In the immediate aftermath of President Trump’s victory last November, several high-profile conservative lawmakers vowed to refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, aligning themselves with the terminology preferred by Israel. To many observers, the shift in language signalled a shift in US policy closer to the Jewish state and in favor of further expansion of Jewish communities in the territory.However, Critics have argued that the change in language might inflame tensions in the Middle East, complicating the possibility of reaching a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Nonetheless, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), introduced legislation in December ban the federal government from using the term “West Bank” instead of “Judea and Samaria,” arguing that the bill would “align US policy language with the geographical and cultural significance of the region.”
Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has also vowed to use the words Judea and Samaria in lieu of the West Bank.
“I can’t say something I don’t believe. As you well know, I’ve never been willing to use the term ‘West Bank.’ There is no such thing. I speak of Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee told Israeli media outlet Arutz Sheva in an interview. “I tell people there is no ‘occupation.’ It is a land that is ‘occupied’ by the people who have had a rightful deed to the place for 3,500 years, since the time of Abraham.”
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