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Snapshot 11:Thu, Oct 17, 2024 7:39:42 PM GMT last edited by Eric

NYT Defends Piece Alleging Israeli Forces Purposely Shot Children

NYT Defends Piece Alleging Israeli Forces Purposely Shot Children

Above: Palestinians sit at the site of an Israeli airstrike which hit tents for displaced people two days earlier in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 16, 2024. Image copyright: Eyad Baba/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images

The Facts

  • The New York Times on Tuesday defended a piece it published last week alleging that there were multiple cases of Israeli forces in Gaza shooting children in their head or chest. The article, filed as an opinion piece, was based on the testimony of 65 US-based health professionals who had worked in Gaza over the past year.

  • The war in the enclave broke out on the same day as and in retaliation for the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which gunmen killed about 1.2K people and took some 250 hostages to Gaza.Critics said the accounts were inaccurate or fabricated, but the Times claimed to have "rigorously edited this guest essay before publication" and worked to verify its claims. The outlet added that its editors had seen photos too graphic to publish corroborating the claims.


The Spin

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