Complaint
The bulletin reported the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross as saying residents of Gaza were “being entirely stripped of their human dignity”, and went on to report that “Israel maintains that its forces do not prevent Gazans from collecting aid”. A listener complained it was wrong to repeat an Israeli claim which was demonstrably false. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s standards of accuracy.
Outcome
As the occasion of the report was a significant intervention from a respected neutral humanitarian agency which was highly critical of Israel, it was appropriate to reflect Israel’s response. Reporting a claim made by one side in a conflict does not imply an endorsement of its accuracy, and it allows listeners to understand what arguments are being made, including where these are at odds with the evidence.
Not upheld