MSNBC Issues On-Air Correction: Palestinians Were Killed Waiting for UN Aid, not GHF

MSNBC issued an on-air correction on Morning Joe Friday after Middle East correspondent Matt Bradley falsely reported Palestinians had been killed in Gaza while waiting for aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

On Thursday, Bradley had been introducing a video package about “controversial aid sites” run by GHF in Gaza. It was the latest in a series of mainstream media efforts to discredit the organization, which is currently the main provider of food aid in Gaza, distributing 2 to 3 million meals a day.

The United Nations and Hamas both oppose GHF because it undermines their role and power in Gaza.

Bradley’s report repeated familiar, and false, accusations that GHF is dangerous for Palestinians, and went even further than others had gone, targeting GHF executive chairman Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore because of his “evangelical Christian ideology” and his alleged “somewhat messianic perspective on Israel.”

In introducing the report, Bradley said: “We’re still seeing massive numbers of casualties every single day. And actually, a lot of those folks are killed, and have been killed, waiting in line for much-needed food being distributed by a U.S.-backed organization that has attracted a lot of criticism and a lot of scrutiny. This effort just had its bloodiest day two days ago, when around 60 people were shot dead while waiting in line.”

As Breitbart News has noted, such reports have been false: no deaths or injuries have ever taken place at GHF aid distribution sides. Hamas and others opposed to GHF have spread fake news in an effort to discredit the organization; mainstream media outlets have often repeated these claims, only to retract them later.

In at least one case, Hamas attacks on Palestinians traveling to GHF aid sites to seek aid have apparently been falsely attributed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

On Friday, Bradley corrected the record: “Yesterday we reported on the deaths of around 60 people who were fatally shot while waiting for food in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. We should clarify that those people were waiting for food rations that were arriving from UN convoys, not those that were distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).”

The GHF stated: “The [Associated Press] reported that it was in fact an UN convoy/distribution site [that was attacked], which was confirmed by the U.N. itself.”

Israel has also denied attacking Palestinians seeking aid, though it has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who left approved access routes and were perceived as approaching Israeli soldiers.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.