Death tolls, a 🧵 It seems obvious that any self-respecting news organisation would make clear that Gaza's health ministry is run by Hamas. Hamas has a clear propaganda incentive to inflate civilian casualties as much as possible. I'm not denying there are civilians being killed
At all, including many children. That's verifiable. What is not verifiable are the numbers that emerge throughout the day from Gaza of new death tolls -- 700 killed in the last 24 hours, 500 killed in the Ahli hospital car park blast, 5,000 killed since Oct. 8th, etc., etc.
These numbers are vast AND almost entirely uncheckable. The only source news organisations have for them is Hamas. Most news outlets are now citing "the Hamas-run health ministry" as the source, but not all. @Reuters still refers to "Palestinian officials", which is misleading
In the extreme. I oversaw Reuters' coverage of the Palestinian Territories in 2006 and again as Jerusalem bureau chief from 2014-17. There was a time when the figures from the ministry could be relied upon. The doctors and administrators knew what they were doing
And were professional about it. But Hamas has now been in charge in Gaza for 16 years. It has squeezed the life out of honesty and probity. Any health official stepping out of line and not giving the death tolls that Hamas wants reported to journalists risks serious consequences
So at least a modicum of scepticism is needed with respect to the rapidly updated, and frequently round figure, death tolls. Journalists and UN officials know this, but still they repeat the numbers pushed out by Hamas, or by officials with Hamas breathing down their necks
Again, painfully, there is no question that high numbers of civilians are being killed as Israel carries out air strikes on Hamas targets through Gaza. There are multiple reasons for that, including heavy handed tactics and weaponry, well-hidden targets, mistakes and, yes,
Hamas using civilians as 'human shields'. It happens. I've witnessed it. But the main point here is this: media organisations should look at themselves in the mirror and ask "how do I know what I know?" And if the answer is "because a Hamas-run health ministry official told me"
Then there are serious problems with the reliability of the information they are reporting as fact to the world. End of thread.
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