New York Times Responds to Netanyahu’s Legal Threat: ‘Children in Gaza Are Malnourished and Starving’
Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu threatened the New York Times in an interview with Fox News.
The New York Times responded to a legal threat from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said in an interview this week he was looking into taking action against the paper over its reporting on the war in Gaza.
In a sit-down interview with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer, Netanyahu launched a broadside against the Times over a report the paper published on starvation in Gaza. The Times added an editor’s note to the piece last week after determining that one of the children featured in the story suffered from pre-existing health conditions — in addition to severe malnutrition.
“The New York Times should be sued,” Netanyahu told Hemmer in their interview. “I’m actually looking at whether a country can sue The New York Times. And I am looking into it right now because I think it’s such a-, it’s such clear defamation.”
The Times shot back in a statement released Thursday, noting the child in question is still “severely malnourished” and defending their reporters against what they called “[a]ttempts to threaten independent media providing vital information and accountability to the public.”
The full statement reads:
Children in Gaza are malnourished and starving, as New York Times reporters and others have documented. Mr. Netanyahu is referring to an update we made to a story about how the food crisis is affecting the civilian population. After publication, we learned that a child shown in that story — in addition to being severely malnourished — also had pre-existing health problems. That additional information gave readers a greater understanding of his situation.
Attempts to threaten independent media providing vital information and accountability to the public are unfortunately an increasingly common playbook, but journalists continue to report from Gaza for The Times, bravely, sensitively, and at personal risk, so that readers can see firsthand the consequences of the war.
Gaza health authorities report that nearly 200 people, 96 of whom are children, have died of hunger in Gaza. Ross Smith, director of emergency preparedness and response for the World Food Program, told journalists on Sunday that WFP numbers show that a quarter of the population is facing famine-like conditions.
In the interview with Hemmer, Netanyahu also said that Israel intends to take full military control of Gaza.
Hemmer asked, “After this interview, you will go immediately into a meeting with your security cabinet. Will Israel take control of all of Gaza?”
“We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance…We want to liberate ourselves and liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas,” said Netanyahu.
