On October 17th, 2023, the Gaza Ministry of Health — which Hamas controls — falsely reported that an Israeli missile struck Al-Shifa Hospital, injuring 342 and killing 471. Many news outlets including CNN, Reuters, The Guardian, The New York Times, and Al Jazeera parroted this baseless report, inciting widespread rioting and protests around the world. These outlets deliberately spread the unconfirmed report which was later determined to be false. They ignored the IDF’s compelling evidence that the rocket was fired by Islamic Jihad — an internationally recognized terror group. It was aimed towards Israel but it crashed in Gaza instead. 

Several weeks later, independent investigations by The Associated Press, CNN, The Economist, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and even the infamously anti-Israel NGO Human Rights Watch revealed that Hamas’ account was inaccurate. Despite this, very little effort was made to elevate the truth.