CAMERA’s Israel office has prompted Agence France Presse to correct in both English and French after the news agency grossly inflated Hamas’ own claim about the death toll in the Gaza Strip from 436 to 970.
AFP’s March 19 article, “Gaza ministry toll shows 970 deaths in two days, after Israel launched new strikes,” had erred:
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Wednesday published a new death toll from the war with Israel, showing an additional 970 deaths in 48 hours, after Israel intensified deadly strikes on the territory.
The death toll from the war in the Gaza [sic] recorded by the ministry at midday on Monday (1000 GMT stood at 48,577. By midday on Wednesday, the figure had risen to 49,547, it said. (Emphasis added.)
(The erroneous article is still available on the sites of some non-Western news outlets.)
In fact, at the time, the latest information from Hamas’ Gaza Ministry of Health put the death toll since strikes renewed on March 17 at 436 Palestinians, not 970. (Screenshot at left. The number 678 refers to the reported number of injured.)
The misinformation also appeared in a second AFP article March 19, “Gaza health ministry says one foreign UN worker killed in Israeli strike denied by Israel.” That article erred: “The health ministry published a new death toll from the war with Israel Wednesday, showing an additional 970 deaths in 48 hours.” (Emphasis added.)
The Health Ministry’s total of 48,577 on mid-day March 17 versus the total figure of 49,547 on mid-day March 19 does not suggest all 970 fatalities were killed in that 48-hour period. The Ministry of Health itself was very explicit that in the 48-hour period the death toll was 436.
The error also appeared in the French version of the former article as well as in a second French article March 19 (“Gaza: Keir Starmer ‘profondément préoccupé’ par les frappes israéliennes”).
Following communication from CAMERA’s Israel office March 19, AFP subsequently published the following corrected article, with a version also in French (“Gaza’s civil defence says at least 436 killed since Israel resumed strikes,” 4:45 PM GMT):
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Wednesday that at least 436 people had been killed since Israel resumed intense strikes on the Palestinian territory.
“The Civil Defence has transported at least 436 martyrs since the resumption of the occupation’s (Israel’s) aggression and war since dawn yesterday,” spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, with the figures confirmed by Zaher Al-Wahidi, director of the information department at the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Barron’s, an AFP client, published the corrected article citing 436 reported deaths and deleted the original story with the grossly inflated death toll. Other secondary media outlets to correct AFP’s misinformation include Le Monde in French and in English, France24 and FranceInfo.
Le Monde‘s article adds:
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza previously said more than 400 people have been killed in the strikes. It published a much higher death toll of 970 on Wednesday for the last 48 hours, but an official later withdrew it, citing a “technical error.”
See also “AFP Repackages Hamas-Supplied Casualty Figures as Independent U.N. Data” and “More Than 80 North American Media Outlets Correct After AP Outflanks Hamas Casualty Claims“