New York Times Issues HUMILIATING Apology After Publishing Terrorist Propaganda

On Monday, The New York Times issued a humiliating public apology to readers after the outlet was exposed for publishing terrorist propaganda spread by Hamas that the al-Ahli hospital was bombed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) last week rather than a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket.

While The New York Times and nearly every mainstream media organization ran the story last week after getting word from the Gaza Health Authority, an organization beholden to Hamas, subsequent investigation by multiple international intelligence agencies found that the claim was completely false.

Instead of an Israeli air strike that destroyed an entire hospital and killed 500 people, the truth was that a rocket, most likely from the PIJ, misfired and landed in the parking lot outside the hospital, killing only a few dozen.

In response to the drastic mistake, The Times was forced to issue an apology which began, "On Oct. 17, The New York Times published news of an explosion at a hospital in Gaza City, leading its coverage with claims by Hamas government officials that an Israeli airstrike was the cause and that hundreds of people were dead or injured. The report included a large headline at the top of The Times's website."

"Israel subsequently denied being at fault and blamed an errant rocket launch by the Palestinian faction group Islamic Jihad, which has in turn denied responsibility. American and other international officials have said their evidence indicates that the rocket came from Palestinian fighter positions," the editorial team wrote. "The Times's initial accounts attributed the claim of Israeli responsibility to Palestinian officials, and noted that the Israeli military said it was investigating the blast. However, the early versions of the coverage — and the prominence it received in a headline, news alert and social media channels — relied too heavily on claims by Hamas, and did not make clear that those claims could not immediately be verified. The report left readers with an incorrect impression about what was known and how credible the account was."

The outlet went on to explain that it changed the headline and other text within the article within two hours of the initial posting in an effort to fix the various mistakes.

"Given the sensitive nature of the news during a widening conflict, and the prominent promotion it received, Times editors should have taken more care with the initial presentation, and been more explicit about what information could be verified," the editorial team wrote in the conclusion of the apology.

After the mistake made by The New York Times and other various media outlets led to widespread protests and violent reactions across the Middle East, leading to US and Israeli embassies coming under attack, The Times' groveling apology is not enough. Those responsible for spreading Hamas' lies should be held accountable, and people in the newsroom should be fired for their costly mistakes that put American and Israeli lives at risk.

You can follow Sterling on X/Twitter here