Reuters Pulls Article That Called Hamas Members Trapped in Terror Tunnels "Civilians"
The statement offered no explanation of the error, no acknowledgment that combatants were misidentified as civilians, and no details about how consecutive paragraphs contradicted each other.
Reuters withdrew an article this week after incorrectly describing 200 armed Hamas terrorists as “civilians,” despite Hamas itself publicly stating the individuals were combatants who refused to surrender.
The November 9 article, headlined “Turkey seeks safe passage for 200 civilians trapped in Gaza tunnels, official says,” was pulled following intervention by CAMERA (the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis). It was originally reported by Jonathan Spicer and edited by Deepa Babington.
The Self-Contradiction
The article’s first paragraph described “200 civilians trapped in tunnels in Gaza.” But the very next paragraph contradicted this, stating: “Palestinian militant group Hamas earlier said that fighters holed up in the Israeli-held Rafah area will not surrender to Israel.”
The piece quoted a Turkish official seeking “safe passage of some 200 Gazan civilians currently trapped in the tunnels” without challenging or clarifying this characterization.
Notably, Reuters published a separate article the same day that correctly identified the same individuals as “Hamas fighters” and quoted the Al-Qassam Brigades stating that “surrender does not exist in the dictionary” of their organization.
Minimal Response
Reuters replaced the article with a brief notice: “The Nov. 10 story headlined ‘Turkey seeks safe passage for 200 civilians trapped in Gaza tunnels, official says’ is withdrawn after post-publication review. A replacement story will be issued later.”
The statement offered no explanation of the error, no acknowledgment that combatants were misidentified as civilians, and no details about how consecutive paragraphs contradicted each other.
The story was also removed from U.S. News & World Report and Al Arabiya, which had republished it.
Why It Matters
The distinction between civilians and combatants is fundamental in conflict reporting, affecting how negotiations and humanitarian situations are understood internationally. The incident raises questions about editorial oversight when an article can simultaneously describe the same group as both “civilians” and “fighters who refuse to surrender.”
As of publication, Reuters has not issued a detailed explanation or published the promised replacement story.
Great read. Hope this reaches far and wide. Unfortunately the damage this fake news does is just feeds the narrative ! Thanks.