https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/18/media/gaza-hospital-bombing-dueling-claims/index.html



Hundreds of civilians killed in an airstrike on a Gaza City hospital. Israel did it. No, Islamic Jihad did it.

A series of high-stakes claims emerged Tuesday amid the roiling Israel-Hamas war, presenting one of the thorniest challenges yet to newsrooms trying to make sense of the chaos and provide clarity to the world as it watches the deadly conflict unfold.

In the immediate aftermath of the deadly hospital explosion, some of the world’s biggest and most reputable news organizations uncritically echoed claims from the Hamas-run Palestinian government, which assigned fault for the carnage on Israel. Some news organizations even definitively stated that Israel was responsible in their first reports.

But, soon after those reports, a more complex picture emerged. The Israel Defense Forces flatly denied having struck the hospital and causing the devastating civilian casualties. Instead, the IDF laid blame for the tragic incident squarely at the feet on a rival Islamist group in Gaza, which it said had struck the hospital with an errant rocket.

News organizations quickly moved to reflect the IDF’s statement — and the sudden ambiguity — in coverage. Cable news chyrons were tweaked. Ledes rewritten. Headlines changed.

The turnabout prompted the IDF to scold the press.