CAMERA has prompted correction at MSNBC after Ayman Mohyeldin falsely blamed Israeli bombings in Gaza earlier this month for all 49 Palestinian fatalities in Gaza. In his Aug. 21 broadcast, Mohyeldin ignored the fact that many of the Palestinians were killed by errant Islamic Jihad rockets: “We’re just coming off of Israel’s bombing offensive in Gaza that killed at least 49 Palestinians, including 17 children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.”
Israel‘s raids on Palestinian rights organizations this week shows how the occupation of Palestinian territories is about more than just bombings, violence, and death. It even makes documenting the everyday injustices Palestinians face a challenge, @AymanM says. pic.twitter.com/qoXwutJqfT
— AYMAN (@AymanMSNBC) August 20, 2022
Contrary to Mohyeldin’s’s assertion that Israeli airstrikes killed 49 in Gaza, including 17 children, a significant figure were killed by rockets which Islamic Jihad directed at Israeli communities but which fell short, killing Gazans instead. As The Associated Press recently reported (“Misfired rockets may have killed over a dozen in Gaza battle“): “Close to one-third of the Palestinians who died in the latest outbreak of violence between Israel and Gaza militants may have been killed by errant rockets fired by the Palestinian side, according to an Israeli military assessment that appears consistent with independent reporting by The Associated Press.”
Other sources give slightly different figures for the percentage of the 49 Gazans killed by Islamic Jihad’s failed rockets. For instance, Haaretz‘s Amira Hass, a veteran critic of Israel, reported: “Botched launches of Palestinian rockets killed 14 non-combatants, including seven children.” She provides a detailed account of each fatality: their name, date, place and circumstances of death.
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center identifies 11 Gazans were killed by Palestinian rockets. The Israeli military believes that 12 children in Gaza were killed by Islamic Jihad rockets.
Thus, while there is uncertainty about the precise number of Palestinians killed by misfired Islamic Jihad rockets, there is no uncertainty that the failed attacks against Israel ended up taking a number of Palestinian lives.
As Agence France Presse reported, some Gaza residents admit to the misfired rockets, though they are afraid to disclose their names (“Islamic Jihad faces tough questions after Israeli strikes”).
In response to communication from CAMERA, Mohyeldin yesterday tweeted the following correction:
In this segment, we reported 49 Palestinians were killed during Israel’s bombing offensive; while Israel takes responsibility for some of those deaths, we should have also noted AP reported evidence that 14 of those were killed by errant rockets fired from the Palestinian side.
In this segment, we reported 49 Palestinians were killed during Israel’s bombing offensive; while Israel takes responsibility for some of those deaths, we should have also noted AP reported evidence that 14 of those were killed by errant rockets fired from the Palestinian side.
— AYMAN (@AymanMSNBC) August 30, 2022
CAMERA commends MSNBC for acknowledging the falsehood.
Meanwhile, ABC has yet to correct its two separate broadcasts in which Ines de la Cuetara and Reena Roy made the identical error.