March 30 UPDATE:
ABC Corrects
Following communication from both CAMERA staff and members, ABC has corrected after falsely reporting as fact the disputed claim that an Israeli airstrike hit a U.N. facility in the Gaza Strip, killing an international worker. See below for a detailed update.
Just one day after ABC News was compelled to publish an Editor's Note retracting a false claim that Israel had dropped inflammatory leaflets in the Gaza Strip, the network again published an unsubstantiated allegation charging Israel with wrongdoing in the coastal territory.
In her March 21 article, ABC's Nadine El-Bawab stated as fact that a deadly Israeli strike hit a UN facility in the Gaza Strip, though Israel has denied the accusation ("Israel orders expansion of ground operation in Gaza, seizure of more territory"). Without qualifying the claim as a disputed allegation, Nadine El-Bawab stated as fact that Israel hit the U.N. facility, killing a Bulgarian U.N. worker: "A United Nations staff member was killed and five other personnel were seriously injured in an Israeli strike on Wednesday."
Israel's emphatic denials of responsibility have been widely reported. As the Associated Press wrote:
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has expressed sorrow over the death of a United Nations worker in Gaza, but said an initial probe found the Israeli military was not responsible.
The circumstances of the episode were being examined, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said in a statement.
The Israeli military earlier also denied involvement in the death, which occurred after ordnance hit a U.N. guesthouse in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, according to the U.N.
AFP likewise reported March 19 that UN official Farhan
Haq said it was too early to "determine responsibility," but that the explosion was not the result of a mine or unexploded ordnance, but a projectile that was "either dropped or fired at the infrastructure and detonated inside the building."
"We do not know whether it was fired from land, from the sea, from the air," he said.
The Gaza health services had said earlier Wednesday that the UN worker was killed by an Israeli strike.
But Israel denied it had carried out any attacks on Deir el-Balah, in the center of the Palestinian territory.
"Contrary to reports, the IDF (army) did not strike a UN compound in Deir el-Balah," said a statement, while an army spokesperson told AFP that "there was no IDF operational activity there and that the IDF didn't strike the UN compound."
Similarly, Haaretz reported:
In an X post, spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote, "We express sorrow over the death of the Bulgarian citizen, a UN worker, today in the Gaza Strip."
The circumstances of the incident are being investigated. We emphasize that the initial examination found no connection to IDF activity whatsoever," he added.
Regarding the UN Secretary-General’s statement on the incident in Deir al-Balah on 19 March:
The initial examination found no connection to IDF activity whatsoever.The UN inquiry team itself hasn’t even arrived at the scene.
Yet the UN is quick to publish another baseless… pic.twitter.com/LqioB3Cc6V
— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) March 24, 2025
CAMERA has contacted ABC to inquire whether the network is in possession of credible evidence that no other relevant source has — including the United Nations itself — indicating Israeli responsibility for the deadly explosion. Absent clear evidence of an Israeli strike, the network is obligated to amend its unequivocal report to make clear that Israel has disputed the baseless accusation of responsibility for that death and has noted that its military did not strike the U.N. compound.
See also "Scrolling Isn't Reporting: When Journalists Amplify Social Media Misinformation"
March 30 Update: ABC Corrects
Following communication from both CAMERA staff and members, ABC has corrected after falsely reporting as fact the disputed claim that an Israeli airstrike hit a U.N. facility in the Gaza Strip, killing an international worker. The amended text, updated approximately on March 26, or perhaps a day or so later, acknowledges that the claim is disputed and includes Israel's denial of responsibility:
A United Nations staff member was killed and five other personnel were seriously injured in a strike on Wednesday, according to the U.N.
The U.N. said initial information gathered points to the deaths being caused by Israeli fire.
The IDF has denied involvement in that strike. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed sorrow over the death and said an "initial examination found no connection to IDF activity whatsoever" but the circumstances were still being investigated.
The deaths brought the number of U.N. staff members killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, to 280 people, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
"The locations of all U.N. premises are known to the parties to the conflict, who are bound by international law to protect them and maintain their absolute inviolability," a spokesperson for Guterres said.
In addition, the following editor's note commendably appended to the bottom of the article alerts readers to the change:
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the IDF has denied involvement in the strike of a U.N. compound in Deir el Balah in Gaza.