Top BBC boss admits making 'mistake' over reporting of Gaza hospital strike
Jon Donnison was reporting live on air about claims that a hospital in Gaza had been struck by a missile or a bomb
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A senior boss at the BBC has admitted that the company made a “mistake” whilst reporting on the Gaza hospital strike.
The broadcaster was one of many media outlets that attributed the attack to Israel, based on Hamas’ accusation.
The Israeli government has instead insisted the deathly fire was caused by a rocket that was misfired by Hamas.
BBC correspondent Jon Donnison was reporting live on air about claims that a hospital in Gaza had been struck by a missile or a bomb.
WATCH NOW: BBC coverage of Gaza hospital strike
Donnison told viewers the Israeli military had been contacted for comment adding: “But it’s hard to see what else this could be really given the size of the explosion other than an Israeli air strike or several air strikes.”
“Because when we see rockets being fired out of Gaza, we never see explosions of that scale. We might see half a dozen, maybe a few more people, being killed in such rocket attacks but we've never seen anything on the scale of the sort of explosion on the video I was watching earlier - which as you say, is still to be verified.”
The comments were made during Tuesday night's broadcast of the BBC News channel's The Context, and prior to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) coming forward with evidence it claims proves the blast was caused by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.
At the Media Society’s Reporting the Israel Hamas Conflict event on Thursday, Jonathan Munro, the deputy chief executive of BBC News, said that the broadcaster’s “language wasn’t quite right”.
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He continued: “The correspondent was wrong to speculate about the cause of the explosion of the hospital.
“At no stage did he actually say it was caused by the Israelis ... but nonetheless, when the impression is left that we’ve speculated, [it] is important to correct that which we’ve done.”
He added: “Somewhere along the line, human beings are going to make a mistake on a bit of output and when it gets magnified and is used as an example of getting things wrong, it’s a very uncomfortable place to be.
“And of course, it shouldn’t have happened and we need to make sure that we’re doubling down on... [keeping] our language absolutely accurate.”
As many as 500 people are believed to be killed or injured as a result of the blast.
Palestinian authorities claim that Israel was behind the attack, whilst the IDF claims to have evidence which places Hamas in the blame.
Among the alleged evidence released by the IDF in the wake of the hospital blast are recordings of alleged Hamas terrorists discussing a rocket inadvertently striking the hospital as well as alleged video footage of said rocket going off-course.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed: “The walls stay intact. There are no craters in the parking lot. These are the characteristics that show it was not an aerial munition that hit the parking lot.”