Pro-Hamas demonstrators at Columbia University in New York City, US, April 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

One of many remarkable aspects of BBC coverage of the current war between Israel and terrorists in the Gaza Strip has been the media corporation’s readiness to uncritically amplify practically any claim or statement put out by Hamas, the terrorist organization that chose to initiate the conflict.

Even after 10 months during which many Hamas claims have been shown to be inaccurate — for example, the causes of explosions, casualty ratios, casualty figures, allegations of famine, and more — the BBC apparently still has not arrived at the conclusion that its own reputation as a provider of accurate and impartial reporting would benefit if its journalists did some basic fact checking before promoting assertions made by a terrorist organization.

One recent example of that phenomenon appeared in a report published on the BBC News website on August 7, under the headline, “Gaza to get 1.2m polio vaccines amid outbreak fears” in which Tom Bennett told BBC audiences that:

Last week, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said the territory had become a “polio epidemic zone.” It blamed the reappearance of the virus on Israel’s military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.

The WHO says that fewer than half of Gaza’s primary healthcare facilities are operational.

Hamas’ ministry of health did indeed put out such an announcement on July 29. But with the word epidemic defined as “an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area,” it would have been advisable for the BBC to check whether there is actually a widespread occurrence of polio in the Gaza Strip  — and if so, whether there is any connection to the factors cited by the ministry — before they uncritically repeated the statement.

In order to appreciate the redundancy of the Hamas claim that the BBC chose to promote worldwide, it is necessary to go back to July 23, when the BBC News website published a report by David Gritten titled, “WHO ‘extremely worried’ about possible Gaza polio outbreak.” That piece opened as follows:

“The World Health Organization is “extremely worried” about the possibility of an outbreak of the highly infectious polio virus in Gaza after traces were found in wastewater.” [emphasis added]

On July 23, the WHO put out the following announcement:

On 16 July 2024, the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN) notified the detection of six circulating variant poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) isolates in environmental samples from Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in Gaza. Further genomic sequencing of these isolates by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta indicates that these isolates have close genetic linkage with each other and are also related to the cVDPV2 that was circulating in Egypt during the second half of 2023 – which was last detected in Egypt in samples collected in December 2023.

Based on the analysis of genetic changes in the isolates, the variant poliovirus could have been introduced in Gaza as early as September 2023.

WHO considers there to be a high risk of cVDPV2 spread within Gaza, and internationally if this outbreak is not responded to promptly and optimally.

It is important to note that poliovirus has been isolated from environmental samples only at this time; no associated paralytic cases have been detected. However, acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance has not been functioning adequately, and environmental surveillance has been suspended since 7 October 2023. [emphasis added]

In other words, according to the WHO, the strain of the virus discovered in two locations in the Gaza Strip in July 2024 may have been there before the war began in October 2023.

Also according to the WHO, by July 23, no symptomatic cases had been recorded. That statement was accurately reported by Gritten at the time: “No associated paralytic cases have been recorded so far.”

On July 26, the WHO announced that it would be sending a consignment of vaccines to the Gaza Strip, again stating that no cases of polio had been recorded.

Nevertheless, three days later, the Hamas ministry of health declared an “epidemic” — and the week after that, the BBC’s Tom Bennett chose to provide uncritical amplification for that unevidenced claim.

Another notable aspect of Bennett’s report comes in the following paragraphs:

It will be a “huge logistical challenge” to ensure the 1.2 million vaccine doses are deployed successfully, said WHO official Andrea King.

Vaccines need to be continuously stored in a limited temperature range – from the moment they are manufactured until they are administered – which presents a technical challenge during ongoing hostilities.

The WHO called for a ceasefire and requested “absolute freedom of movement” during the rollout of the vaccine programme. It said it was in the process of obtaining the necessary approvals to enter Gaza.

However, previous calls for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds have not been granted by Israel.

Bennett refrained from informing BBC audiences that between October 2023 and late January 2024, over 300,000 polio vaccinations (along with vaccinations against other diseases) were delivered to the Gaza Strip in coordination with the IDF.  He also failed to note that Israeli officials are currently collaborating with UN bodies to facilitate a vaccination campaign against polio.

While there is no doubt that the detection of a strain of polio at two locations in the Gaza Strip is a serious cause for concern — which is currently being addressed by UN bodies in collaboration with Israel — Bennett’s uncritical promotion of Hamas’ propaganda concerning an “epidemic” (which fortunately is not currently the case) caused by “Israel’s military offensive” (even though the WHO has stated that the variant could have entered the Gaza Strip before the war) clearly hinders audience understanding of this story.

Hadar Sela is the co-editor of CAMERA UK – an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.