BBC international editor laughs at coverage of Gaza hospital bombing

BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen tried to explain the broadcaster’s coverage of an explosion at a hospital in Gaza on 17 October in an interview on his own channel. Reports of the incident differ as to who was responsible for the explosion.

The explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital is being blamed on both Israel and a failed Hamas fire, and casualty reports are equally grim.

US, Israeli and other intelligence agencies believe the hospital explosion was likely a failed rocket attack by Islamic Jihad. Others said the scale of the explosion was beyond Hamas’ capabilities and pointed to an Israeli online post immediately afterward that was quickly deleted.

Appears on BBC News channels Behind the stories Bowen admitted on Saturday that he had made mistakes in his reporting, but said he regretted “nothing” about his report.

“The rocket hit the hospital shortly after dark. You can hear the impact. The blast destroyed Al-Ahli Hospital. It was already damaged in a light attack last weekend. “The building has been leveled,” Bowen reported live on BBC One’s News at Ten, a few hours after the initial reports.

After the audio of the report was played, a BBC journalist asked Bowen about the report.

“The BBC has been heavily criticized for its coverage of this event. Tell us what happened that night. And honestly, where did you get your information from? And do you regret anything you said that night? Bowen asked.

“So I think it broke in the middle of the night. And to answer your question: No, I have no regrets in my reporting, because I believe I am measured everywhere. “I didn’t make a hasty judgment,” he replied.

“But you said the building was destroyed,” the interviewer replied.

“Oh yes. Well, I was wrong, because when I looked at the pictures, I saw a square that seemed to be on fire on all sides. And in the middle there was a kind of emptiness. And that was it, think me, a picture taken by a drone. And so we have to, you know, put together what we see. And I thought, it looks like whole buildings have disappeared. And that was my conclusion when I looked at the pictures . And in that I was wrong. But I don’t feel too bad about it,” Bowen replied.

The BBC corrected its coverage of the October 19 hospital explosion after speculating that Israel was behind the explosion. The network later added an apology to the correction on the 24th.