The National Jewish Assembly strongly condemns the recent rush to judgement by certain media outlets, including some in the British media, which falsely accused Israel of attacking a hospital in Gaza. It has come to the attention of the NJA that subsequent evidence, including video footage, intelligence reports, and intercepted phone calls from Hamas operatives, overwhelmingly supports the case that this tragic incident was the result of a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) or Hamas, not an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) strike.
It is deeply troubling that certain media outlets rushed to judgement without verifying the facts, perpetuating a false narrative that wrongly accused Israel of targeting a hospital. It is especially important to underscore that the source of this information is Hamas – as published by its own social media accounts, and the “Gaza Health Ministry” that it controls. Such hasty reporting not only undermines the credibility of the media by failing in its due diligence, fact-checking, and blind regurgitation of Hamas propaganda. Such careless reporting also fuels anti-Israel sentiment and unfairly tarnishes Israel’s reputation on the world stage.
The NJA applauds former Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom, Mark Regev, for his commitment to truth and accuracy in challenging this pernicious fake news during a recent Sky News interview. Sky News interviewer Anna Botting was highly unprofessional and accusatory towards Regev, and made haste in rushing to condemn Israel for a strike that it was not responsible for, armed with a set of erroneous information.
The NJA demands an immediate apology from Sky News for its erroneous reporting and false accusation against Israel, and the unprofessional conduct exhibited by Botting in the aforementioned interview.
The IDF’s statement, confirming that a misfired rocket attack by Palestinian Islamic Jihad was responsible for the damage to the Gaza hospital, is supported by concrete evidence. An analysis of IDF operational systems clearly indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the hospital at the time it was hit. Additionally, intelligence from reliable sources, including audio recordings in which Islamic Jihad members admit their responsibility for the explosion, further corroborates this assessment.
The NJA urges the media, especially those in the UK, to exercise greater caution and commitment to accuracy when reporting on complex conflicts such as the one in the Middle East.
