How the British Media Covered the ‘Israeli Attack on the School’

[Order David Horowitz’s new book, America Betrayed, HERE.]

The performance by the British media in reporting on the Israeli strike on a Hamas command-and-control center inside a school complex is nothing short of disgraceful: “Media Promotes Hamas Propaganda In Reporting On Gaza Attack, by Adam Levick, CAMERA, August 12, 2024:

The Independent, in an article published on Sunday, and co-written by Bel Trew, Salma Ouaguira and Nedal Hamdouna, included this headline:

Terror and death as Israel strikes school in Gaza during prayers…

This is false. The Fajr (Dawn) prayers had ended 15 minutes before the IDF attack was launched. The mosque area had emptied out.

Here’s the strapline, which also uses the highest Hamas figure, stating it as a fact rather than an unevidenced claim:

Palestinians describe the harrowing moment IDF targeted al-Tabaeen school in Gaza City, killing 100 people

Again, The Independent offers no evidence to support this maximalist claim by Hamas of “100 people killed.” It also had no reason to claim that the IDF targeted “al-Tabeen school.” The Israeli pilots did not strike a school, but a command-and-control center that Hamas had set up inside the mosque area of the school complex.

It’s only several paragraphs into the article that the 100 number is attributed to Hamas. Further, the IDF statement, and terrorist casualty figures, were only cited in the 11th paragraph of the article.

Many people do not read stories beyond the headline and the first few paragraphs. How many readers of The Independent never reached the paragraph mentioning Hamas as the source of the “100 Gazans killed”? And it was not until the eleventh paragraph of the story that the source for the “100 number” was correctly attributed to Hamas, and that also noted the figures on terrorist casualties from the strike for which the IDF provided evidence — the names and photographs of those 38 dead Hamas members.

A Guardian article on Saturday, 17:48 BST, by Bethan McKernan, told readers that at least 80 were killed, which it attributed to “Palestinian officials”.

Israel strikes on Gaza school site kill at least 80, Palestinian officials say…

That reference to “Palestinian officials” misleads. The Guardian should have written “Hamas officials claim that the IDF killed ‘at least 80.’” It should also have made clear that Israel did not strike a “Gaza school,” but rather, a mosque inside a school complex, parts of which were being used by Hamas as a command-and-control center, as can be inferred from the large number of Hamas combatants who were killed at the site.

The Guardian, always reliably anti-Israel, did not disappoint. It called the source of its information about “80 killed” Gazans a “civil defense” group, but did not make clear that this group is controlled by Hamas. The paper claims that “70 bodies” were in the morgue at Al-Ahli Hospital, as confirmed by Dr. Fadel Naeem, but says nothing about this doctor at Al-Ahli Hospital, who had been caught lying before, when he ascribed to Israel “an attack on the hospital that killed 500 civilians.” It turned out to be a missile fired at Israel from Gaza by Palestinian Islamic Jihad that misfired, and fell inside Gaza on a parking lot next to the hospital, killing not 500, but 50 civilians. The Guardian reporter chose to accept Dr. Naeem’s story, despite his record of lying.

As for Israel’s version of the attack, including the number, and names, of combatant casualties and its evidence that inside the school complex there was a command-and-control center, that was relegated to the ninth paragraph of the story — which means many readers will not have gotten that far in the report.

A Telegraph article on Saturday 20:39 BST, written by their Global Health editor Paul Nuki, was better than most we reviewed, telling readers, in the headline, that “dozens” were “reportedly” killed:

Israeli air strike on school complex reportedly kills dozens in Gaza…

The Telegraph’s account is comparatively fair. The headline suggests some necessary doubt about casualties, saying only that “dozens” were “reportedly” killed. It then quotes the IDF as saying Hamas commanders and operatives were hiding in a mosque that was part of the school complex — the only major media outlet in the U.K to have done so. One caveat: it is too bad that Israel’s version doesn’t appear until the sixth paragraph, which, again, insures that many readers will not have read that far.

A video report on Saturday at Channel 4 News, by foreign affairs correspondent Secunder Kermani, included one of the Hamas casualty count claims as fact:

Israeli airstrike on Gaza school kills over 70

The four minute broadcast includes the claims of Gaza “rescue officials” that they found over 100 bodies, and all but erases Hamas from the story….

There are two numbers about Gazan casualties in this video broadcast on Channel 4 News by Secunder Kermani. The first is 70 — “Israeli airstrike on Gaza school kills over 70.” This number was put out by Hamas, but is stated as fact; Hamas is never mentioned as the source. Elsewhere in the four-minute broadcast we are told that “Gaza rescue officials” have “found over 100 bodies.” We are not told that those Gaza officials are either members of Hamas or take their orders from Hamas. And what about that discrepancy between the numbers: did the Israeli airstrikes kill 70, even though 100 dead bodies have been found by “Gaza officials”? Mr. Kermani, please explain.

And why does that reporter mention “over a dozen such strikes on schools” in recent months, without explaining that all of those “school” buildings were being used by terrorists to hide men, weapons, rocket launchers, and command-and-control centers, which is a war crime?