Australia/Israel Review

One of the most alarming claims since October 7, 2023, came during a BBC interview on May 20, when the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher warned, “There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours [in Gaza] unless we can reach them.”

This was totally false. Fletcher either misunderstood, misrepresented or cherry-picked a UN report which predicted that up to 14,000 children under six (not babies) could suffer malnutrition (not die) between April 2025 and March 2026 (not the next 48 hours), if aid did not begin flowing into Gaza immediately. 

Unsurprisingly, the ABC latched onto Fletcher’s claim, running TV, radio and online reports on the morning of May 21.

On ABC TV “News Breakfast”, Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran reported the claim, including excerpts from the BBC interview. Interviewing anti-Zionist writer and activist Peter Beinart at 8:15am, “News Breakfast” host Bridget Brennan framed a question around the 14,000 figure.

By mid-morning, someone at ABC TV “News” had learnt about Fletcher’s blunder, and subsequent reports included only his call for Israel to allow aid trucks into Gaza, not the “14,000 babies” claim. 

But this knowledge was not ABC-wide.

As late as 3pm on May 21, one ABC NewsRadio host said, “The United Nations says more than 14,000 babies will die if supplies don’t reach them in the next 48 hours.” Around 4pm, a BBC-sourced clip on NewsRadio was still making the claim. 

Likewise, at 3:26pm on May 21, the ABC “Religion & Ethics” website uploaded an op-ed that said the UN warns that “14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours without food aid.” At time of writing, this remains uncorrected.

Matthew Doran’s ABC TV “7pm News” May 21 report omitted any reference to Fletcher’s snafu. But at 7am the next day, Doran’s original TV report, which included the false claim, was re-uploaded to the ABC website. At the time of writing, the ABC website has at least four video or audio reports which include the erroneous claim.

The situation at SBS was similar. As late as 2pm and 5:50pm on May 21, reports were still uploaded to SBS’s website stating that “the UN says it’s worried that 14,000 babies are at risk of death from starvation within the next 48 to 72 hours.” 

SBS TV “World News” (May 21) at 6:30pm diluted Fletcher’s claim, opting for “The UN’s Office of Humanitarian Affairs says more than 14,000 babies and young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition are at risk of accelerated death.” 

On May 23, an SBS online article covered the whole saga accurately but, as of writing, multiple audio items reporting Fletcher’s original claim can still be accessed. 

Channel 7’s 6pm bulletin on May 21 said, “The UN claims a blockade… could endanger thousands of babies in coming days,” but did note “Israel says it has allowed 93 aid trucks into Gaza in the past day.” 

Network Ten’s “News First” at 5pm (May 21) said, “The UN warns 14,000 babies could die in just days, unless humanitarian aid deliveries rapidly increase.”

On May 22, the Australian Financial Review hardcopy ran Fletcher’s mistaken claim. 

Meanwhile, the Guardian Australia website remains awash with recent op-eds and news reports that treat the fake claim as true. 

On May 22, on their respective programs, Sky News’ Chris Kenny and Andrew Bolt excoriated the media’s uncritical reporting of Fletcher’s comments.

Kenny asked, “Did… they actually believe that there could be 14,000 babies in Gaza on the brink of death? It just made no sense at all. Yet the claim ran globally. It was widely reported as fact here in Australia.”

Bolt asked, “Did that Palestinian activist, by the way, who shot dead those two Jews in Washington, hear that fake news… about Israel killing 14,000 babies?”

Writing about aid in the Daily Telegraph (May 23), AIJAC’s Colin Rubenstein called the incident another example of the frequent “rumours and lies” being spread concerning Gaza.

As late as Friday afternoon on May 23, freelance writer Rachel Withers told ABC Radio Melbourne “Drive with Ali Moore” that “the UN has warned that 14,000 babies could starve to death within days if Israel does not end its blockade.” Moore noted Israel had allowed in some aid but did not correct the mistake.

As former Israel Government spokesperson Eylon Levy explained to Sky News on May 25, “The problem we’re dealing with is there are many people who want to believe the worst about Israel.”