Complaint
This bulletin led on the news that the Gaza Ministry of Health had reported that the number killed in Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023 had passed 50,000, while a recent UN report found that 70% of those killed were women or children. A viewer took issue with the presentation of the figures, on the basis that the Ministry of Health itself put the proportion of women and children among the dead at 52%; that it was implied that children were not combatants (whereas teenage boys in particularly accounted for a proportion of combatants); that the Ministry of Health figures were in any case unreliable; and that it was inaccurate for the item to say Israel had not provided figures of its own.  The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The 70% figure, which was based on an analysis of 8,119 verified dead people from November 2023 to April 2024, was clearly attributed to the UN and the ECU did not consider the disparity with the Ministry of Health figure was grounds for not citing it. The ECU accepted that the figure might include some combatants, but saw no particular implication in the bulletin that it did not, and noted that not all adult male casualties would necessarily have been combatants. The bulletin provided the appropriate caveats for figures originating from the Minstry of Health. While the Israeli government had disputed the UN figure cited in the bulletin, it had not issued any estimate of its own. Consequently the ECU found no breach of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s standards of accuracy.
Not upheld