In a recent interview on BBC News channel’s “Behind The Stories,” international editor Jeremy Bowen found himself in the hot seat regarding his coverage of the explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital on October 17th, which he pinned on Israel – based solely off Hamas claims.

“The missile hit the hospital not long after dark. You can hear the impact. The explosion destroyed Al-Ahli Hospital. It was already damaged from a smaller attack at the weekend. The building was flattened,” Bowen reported live on air during BBC One’s News at Ten shortly after the initial reports.

However, in the days that followed, intelligence agencies from the United States, Israel, and other countries concluded that the explosion was more likely an Islamic Jihad rocket misfire. Subsequently, many media outlets corrected their coverage and issued editor’s notes to apologize to their readers.

Moreover, further investigation revealed that the hospital’s damage was primarily confined to the parking lot, and no more than a handful of people were killed – not 500-plus, as Hamas claimed.

During the interview, Bowen admitted to errors in his reporting but said that he doesn’t regret any part of his report.

In the interview, a BBC journalist confronted Bowen about his coverage, saying, “I’ve got to ask you about the hospital. On the 17th of October.” Bowen replied, “Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.”

The interviewer continued, “The BBC was heavily criticized for its reporting of that event. Tell us what happened that night. And, you know, bluntly, where were you getting your information? And do you regret anything that you said that night?”

Bowen defended himself, saying, “So it broke in, I suppose, mid-evening. And to answer your question, no, I don’t regret one thing in my reporting because I think I was measured throughout. I didn’t race to judgment.”

The interviewer pressed, “But you said that building had been flattened.”

Bowen admitted, “Oh, yeah. Well, I got that wrong because I was looking at the pictures, and what I could see was a square that appeared to be flaming on all sides. And there was a, you know, sort of a void in the middle. And it was, I think, a picture taken from a drone. And so, you know, we have to piece together what we see. And I thought, well, it looks like the whole building’s gone. And that was my conclusion from looking at the pictures. And I was wrong on that. But I don’t feel too bad about that.”

The BBC also issued a correction of its reporting on the hospital explosion on October 19th, retracting its earlier speculation that Israel was behind the blast. On the 24th, the network added an apology to its correction, stating, “We have reviewed our coverage of the immediate aftermath of an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night. During this, our correspondent was giving instant analysis on the ground from Jerusalem in what was a confusing and difficult story.”

The statement continued, “We accept that even in this fast-moving situation, it was wrong to speculate in this way about the possible causes, and we apologize for this, although he did not at any point report that it was an Israeli strike.”

YWN notes that Bowen and the BBC are one of the few who share the largest responsibility for spreading the biggest modern day blood liable. They are also single-handedly responsible for causing violent protests around the globe.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)