BBC News is not the sole outlet guilty of misleading headlines and ledes, but it bears the distinction of generating the disproportionate number of ledes that pin blame on Israel even though the story itself explicitly states a lack of evidence for claims made in the lede. This story is another perfect such example. The title of the story is “Five Gaza journalists killed in Israeli strike targeting armed group”, yet the text emphatically states
The BBC has not been able to verify claims made by either side, with international media being prevented by Israel from entering and freely working on the ground in Gaza.
There is absolutely no justification, therefore, in having a title that claims that Israel targeted journalists because no such event was verified. Furthermore, the BBC didn’t even verify that the credentials of journalists who were supposedly targeted.
There are so many lapses in editorial judgment in this piece that it is hard to see it as anything other than a deliberate smear against the Israeli military and the Israeli government. Given the British government’s unqualified support for Israel in the aftermath of the October 7th massacre, this is clearly a hatchet piece designed to denigrate a people, not a government. As such, it is clearly a piece born of antisemitism, and one that will ultimately stand as lie that will detract from whatever human rights case is ultimately brought against Israel.
Casting aspersions is a futile endeavor unbecoming of a legitimate news service. BBC News needs a new editorial board.
A Palestinian TV channel says they were in a marked media van in the central Gaza Strip.
Source: Five Gaza journalists killed in Israeli strike targeting armed group