Sky News Cuts To ‘Desolate Wasteland’ Israeli Ambassador Hails As Gaza Safe Zone

Sky News’ Mark Stone sharply juxtaposed Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely’s claim of Israel “facilitating” a safe zone at Al-Mawasi for Gazan civilians with the stark reality of the area, abruptly switching to footage revealing Al-Mawasi as a desolate “wasteland.”

Speaking in an earlier interview to Sky News host Trevor Philips, Hotovely said that “there is a place in Gaza called the Mawasi. The Mawasi is the place where they all can have shelters. Together with international organisations, we created shelters for the Palestinian people, so you cannot say Israel is not facilitating that together with humanitarian aid.”

Stone featured the soundbite in his report, cutting to Al-Mawasi.

“This is where she is talking about,” he said. “A desolate wasteland of sand dunes next to the Mediterranean Sea. There is no aid in Al-Mawasi. There are no aid agency tents, there are no food kitchens. There is no help here.”

Israel’s safe zone policy was criticised Tuesday by UNICEF Communications Chief James Elder.

“Without water, without sanitation, without shelter, the so-called safe zones risk becoming zones of disease,” he said. “In the current context of the so-called safe zones, they are not scientific. They are not rational. They are not possible.”

Elder went further, in an appearance on Sky News Tuesday morning with host Kay Burley, criticising the safe zone policy as “calculated” and “cold.” He asserted that “those people making these decisions” about where safe zones are “aware of” the problems it will create among crowded and displaced populations.