Tories slam broadcasters including the BBC for swallowing Hamas …
By James Tapsfield, Political Editor For Mailonline[1]
Published: 12:36, 18 October 2023 | Updated: 17:13, 18 October 2023
Tories[2] slammed broadcasters including the BBC for swallowing the Hamas line on the Gaza hospital blast today - as Rishi Sunak[3] said the terror group's claims should be treated like Kremlin propaganda.
During tense exchanges in the Commons after the deadly strike on the al Ahli site, MPs complained that colleagues had been 'scurrying around' insisting Israel was to blame.
Former minister Andrew Percy swiped that the BBC took statements from Hamas officials and 'presented them as fact without challenge' - even though evidence has subsequently suggested one of the extremists' own missiles misfired.
Labour[4]'s Diana Johnson also waded in saying she was 'baffled' that the corporation was refusing to describe the group as 'terrorists'.
At PMQs, Mr Sunak insisted the UK was working with allies 'rapidly analysing' what had happened at the hospital.
Asked about the immediate backlash against Israel, Mr Sunak said: 'We don't treat what comes out of the Kremlin as the gospel truth, we should not do the same with Hamas[5].'
At PMQs, Rishi Sunak insisted the UK was working with allies 'rapidly analysing' evidence after hundreds were killed at the al Ahli site
A woman reacts while holding a pillow as she stands amidst debris outside the site of the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza on October 18, 2023
Ex-Cabinet minister Stephen Crabb told the Commons: 'Last night, sections of the British media were reporting as fact that it was Israeli rockets that had landed and attacked the al Ahli hospital, relying on information supplied by terrorist-controlled Gaza.'
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said broadcasters should not be trying to 'outpace' social media
A BBC Breaking News message on social media last night read: 'Hundreds feared dead or injured in Israeli air strike on hospital in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.'
Visiting Tel Aviv this morning as Israel presented evidence about the origin of the blast, Joe Biden told PM Benjamin Netanyahu it 'appears as though it was done by the other team, not you'.
Mr Sunak told the House of Commons that he was unable to reveal the UK verdict after holding talks with the National Security Adviser and the Joint Intelligence Committee.
Ex-Cabinet minister Stephen Crabb said: 'Last night, sections of the British media were reporting as fact that it was Israeli rockets that had landed and attacked the al Ahli hospital, relying on information supplied by terrorist-controlled Gaza.
'The headlines have since been rewritten but the outpouring of Jew-hate on social media overnight was vile.
'So would the Prime Minister please make the point again that the way that this conflict is being reported has massive implications for our Jewish community and that any information coming from Hamas must be treated with a degree of scrutiny and cross-examination that is sadly sometimes lacking?'
Mr Sunak said: 'He is absolutely right that we should not rush to judgment before we have all the facts on the appalling situation that we saw yesterday, particularly given the sensitivities that he raises, the impact on communities here, but also across the region.
'As I said, it is incumbent on all of those in positions of responsibility in this House and outside in the media to recognise that the words we say will have an impact and we should be careful with them.'
After reiterating that the UK is working with allies to establish the truth about what happened, Mr Sunak added: 'He is right to point out in the same way as that we don't treat what comes out of the Kremlin as the gospel truth, we should not do the same with Hamas.'
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said 'no-one should be taking at face value the word of a terrorist organisation'.
Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government.
Last night the hospital blast was reported by news organisations including the BBC and Sky News citing a statement from Hamas claiming an Israeli air strike was to blame.
A BBC Breaking News message on social media read: 'Hundreds feared dead or injured in Israeli air strike on hospital in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.'
Sky News wrote on Twitter, formerly X, saying: 'Gaza Health Ministry says at least 500 people have been killed in Israeli air strike on al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.'
Tory MP Damian Green told the House that broadcasters have a 'responsibility' to 'make sure that they do not disseminate false information'.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly replied: 'I would make a broad point to broadcasters. I have had this conversation directly with broadcasters in the past. I believe there is an attempt by broadcasters to try and outpace those social media platforms.
'The days of breaking news on those traditional platforms is long in the past.
They should focus on accuracy rather than pace because their words have impact here in the UK and around the world.'
He said there are ongoing efforts in Government to urge social media platforms to 'act with greater professionalism and greater consciousness of the impact they have'.
He added later in the session: 'It is incredibly important the BBC and other broadcasters are very careful in their reporting of this issue because of the sensitivity and because of the implications, not just in the region itself but here in the UK. And that is a general plea to all broadcasters.'
Mr Cleverly also cautioned that 'rushed, inaccurate reporting costs lives' and everybody, including journalists, should be 'very conscious that this involves real lives in the most sensitive of circumstances and could have repercussions not just in the area, not just in the region, but in this country as well'.
He also urged MPs and broadcasters to be 'thoughtful of the implications of their actions, to be sceptical of all information coming out from Hamas'.
Mr Percy told the Commons: 'Last night there were members in this place, including senior members, scurrying around stating as fact that this incident was caused by an Israeli rocket.
'The BBC[6] and other media referred to Hamas statements by Hamas officials - I think they meant to say Hamas terrorists - and they presented them as fact without challenge.
'This is not only risking radicalisation of communities in this country, where we already know there's a problem with antisemitism, it is also putting Jews at risk and I'd just urge colleagues to be careful of their comments given the role blood libels play in promoting antisemitism.'
Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson also raised the BBC's refusal to use the term 'terrorist' to describe Hamas.
'The Foreign Secretary has talked about accountability and accuracy in broadcasts and social media,' she said.
'I just wondered if he shared my bafflement to why the BBC, our national broadcaster, has repeatedly refused to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation when they are a proscribed terrorist group?'
Mr Cleverly replied: 'I am baffled, genuinely baffled.
'You know when the BBC say to do so would take sides... I fundamentally disagree with that.
They have used the word terrorist in a number of occasions, both domestically and internationally.
'I just cannot understand why they cannot bring themselves to describe Hamas as terrorists because that is what they are.'
Keir Starmer used the weekly Commons session, returning after the conference break, to call for humanitarian action
A spokesman for the BBC said: 'Anyone watching, listening to or reading our coverage can see we have set out both sides' competing claims about the attack, clearly showing who is saying them, and what we do or don't know.'
Keir Starmer used the weekly Commons session, returning after the conference break, to call for humanitarian action.
'International law must be upheld and that means hospitals and civilian lives must be protected,' he said.
He also stressed that Parliament 'must strive to speak with one voice in condemnation of terror, in support of Israel's right to self-defence and for the dignity of all human life that cannot be protected without humanitarian access to those suffering in Gaza and the constant maintenance of the rule of international law'.
The debate came as Israel's Defence Forces released evidence they claimed proves an overnight explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of people was caused by a misfiring rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In an audio clip procured by Israeli[7] military intelligence, two alleged Hamas terrorists can be heard discussing the explosion and confirming the rocket came from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) - an independent jihadist group.
'They are saying (the rocket) belongs to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It's from us?' one alleged Hamas member asks in the clip provided by Israel's military intelligence.
'It looks like it,' the other responded. 'It misfired and fell on them... God bless - couldn't it have found another place to explode?'
The recording came after Israeli officials issued a video purporting to show the moment a rocket streaking towards Israel from Gaza suffered a problem and suddenly changes course before flaming out.
In the darkness, it is not clear whether the rocket broke apart or simply lost its trajectory.
But moments later, a pair of explosions erupt in the city below - the result of what Israel claims was the rocket falling back to Earth and striking the al-Ahli Hosptial in Gaza City.
'This is the tragic result of firing rockets from densely populated neighborhoods,' the IDF said.
And finally, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari showed a series of infrared images, satellite photos and intelligence documents he said proved the damage caused at the hospital could not possibly have come from an Israeli strike.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari showed a series of infrared images, satellite photos and intelligence documents he said proved the damage caused at the hospital could not possibly have come from an Israeli strike
Israel also released a radar map of Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket attacks, as well as a video of the moment a rocket purportedly streaking towards Israel from Gaza appears to suffer a problem and suddenly changes course before flaming out
He explained the images showed there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli hospital, no craters in the adjacent car park, and no debris consistent with an air strike, implying a direct hit from an Israeli missile would have caused far more destruction.
'The walls stay intact.
There are no craters in the parking lot.
These are the characteristics that show it was not an aerial munition that hit the parking lot,' he concluded.
He also pointed out images of what he claimed was shrapnel on the roof of nearby buildings, suggesting the rocket fell apart in the air and sprayed its detritus across a larger area.
Hagari said Hamas knew the hospital blast was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket but launched a 'global media campaign' to blame Israel.
The evidence was published amid a torrent of fury from Hamas, the Arab world and Israel's foes over the explosion, with Iran declaring last night that Israel's 'time is up' and Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah calling for a 'day of rage' after Gaza's Health Ministry said some 500 people died in the blast.
Hamas has branded the Israeli evidence 'outrageous lies'.