Complaint
In a report prompted by the death of the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar the BBC correspondent Wyre Davies said “His death will not bring about an immediate end to Israel’s war in Gaza but with continued Israeli military operations against Hamas across the Palestinian territory, in which hundreds of civilians have also been killed, it might bring the end of the war a little closer”. A listener challenged this, on the basis that there was no evidential basis for a definitive statement that Sinwar’s death would not bring about an immediate end to the conflict, and that “hundreds” grossly understated the number of civilian casualties. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The remark about the likely effect of Sinwar’s death was an example of the kind of judgement the BBC expects its correspondents to make on the basis of their expertise and the information they have gleaned in the course of their reporting, and the judgement in question has proven sound. As to “hundreds”, Mr Davies was referring to the recent stages of the ongoing Israeli military operation, not to the cumulative death toll since 8 October 2023. The ECU found no inaccuracy in either case.
Not upheld