BBC Admits Misleading on Gaza Casualties

After months of quoting Hamas’ casualty figures, the BBC has finally admitted that doing so on a News at Ten broadcast on 14th January 2024 ‘gave the unintended impression that the figure from the Hamas-run Health Ministry consisted only of civilian dead, whereas it also included combatants.’

The problem is that the BBC have virtually hidden this admission by placing it on their website in the section that lists the findings of their Editorial Complaints Unit - a unit dedicated to dealing with substantial complaints.

This admission is hugely significant, because quoting the Hamas figures without noting that they include combatants has misled millions of people around the world for months, and prompted much criticism of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for appearing to shoot and bomb ‘indiscriminately’.

In fact, the ratio of civilian to ‘combatant’ casualties has been remarkably low in Gaza, and the IDF should be given credit for that, especially given Hamas’ extensive use of civilians as human shields.

So, thank you Jonathan Sacerdoti, for bringing this BBC admission to our attention.