AP ‘Fact Check’ Pushes Debunked ‘We Just Don’t Know’ Narrative on Hamas’ Al Ahli Hospital Lie

By: Tamar Sternthal October 24, 2023

10:35 am EST UPDATE:

AP Updates To Add US, French Intelligence and AP Findings Consistent With Israel's

Following the publication of this post, and CAMERA's direct communication with AP, the news agency has updated its "fact check" to note that its own findings, along with those of American and French intelligence services, are consistent with Israel's information. Yet, the piece still fails give a clear statement that Hamas made baseless claims and provided zero evidence, continuing to insist that "a definitive conclusion" could not be reached. See below for a detailed update.

Three days after the Associated Press published an investigation confirming Israeli findings that a failed Palestinian rocket fired at Israel was responsible for the Oct. 17 carnage at the Al Ahli Hospital parking lot, and after American and British intelligence investigations likewise affirmed that Israeli information, an AP "Fact Check" report today continues to push the false narrative that "conflicting claims" about the tragic incident cannot be resolved.

The AP "fact check" report, updated and republished today, is unironically headlined: "Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war. Here are the facts." Far from supplying the facts, the "fact check" conceals the known facts, anachronistically bringing us back to the worst of last week's coverage of this incident. It states:

There have been conflicting claims of who was responsible for the hospital blast. Officials in Gaza quickly blamed an Israeli airstrike.

Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a missile misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza that has dismissed that claim.

The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.

Is it too much to ask that AP's fact-checking team stay current with AP's own coverage, namely the Oct. 21 investigation which produced findings consistent with Israel's information that a failed Palestinian rocket was responsible for the carnage in the Al Ahli parking lot ("AP Visual Analysis: Rocket from Gaza appeared to go astray, likely caused deadly hospital explosion")? Is it beyond the AP's fact-checking capacity to keep current with the conclusions of American and British intelligence services, whose findings are likewise consistent with Israel's?
Furthermore, as both The New York Times and AP itself reported, Hamas produced not one shred of evidence. The AP's Oct. 21 visual analysis report rightly stated, Hamas "has not released any evidence to support its claims." Why, then, does AP's poorly named and poorly reported "fact-check" from today refer to "evidence released by the parties"? In fact, just one party — Israel — released evidence.
Hamas' Al Ahli misinformation campaign, readily embraced by the Western media, had a far greater detrimental impact — scuttling diplomatic meetings for President Joe Biden, sparking attempted attacks on Israeli embassies, and inciting mobs against Israel — than any of the relatively marginal sidenotes noted in the AP "fact check."
Its inexplicable, then, that the "fact check" fails to acknowledge this mega-case of misinformation as the prime example of the phenomenon. Worse, it itself contributes to the false narrative citing supposedly competing claims and evidence which simply cannot be verified.
Members of the Western press corps who place Hamas claims, including those previously debunked, on equal footing with information from Israel confirmed by other Western authorities, are themselves are guilty of fueling an unbridled maelstrom of misinformation, however loudly they insist that they are "fact-checking."

10:35 am EST UPDATE:

AP Updates To Add US, British Intelligence and AP Findings Consistent With Israel's

Following the publication of this post, and CAMERA's direct communication with AP, the news agency has updated its "fact check" to note that its own findings, along with those of American and French intelligence services, are consistent with Israel's information. The amended text now reports:

There were conflicting accusations of who was responsible for the hospital blast, with Hamas officials in Gaza blaming an Israeli airstrike and Israel saying it was caused by a an errant rocket launched by Palestinian militants. U.S. and French intelligence services also concluded it was likely caused by a misfired rocket. An AP analysis of video, photos and satellite imagery, as well as consultation with experts, showed the cause was likely a rocket launched from Palestinian territory that misfired in the air and crashed to the ground. However, a definitive conclusion could not be reached.

The piece, ostensibly spotlighting misinformation, still fails give a clear statement that Hamas made baseless claims and provided zero evidence, continuing to insist that "a definitive conclusion" could not be reached.

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