In his September 17 broadcast for CityNews, “Families in Gaza face dangers at home,” journalist Brandon Rowe reported that “more than 10 families were believed to be inside this Gaza City building when it collapsed overnight. At least 21 people were killed including 11 children.”
Watch the full segment:
Israel Should Not Be Implicated Without Evidence of What Caused the Collapse
A tragedy by any account. Yet his reporting was fundamentally flawed. He continued to include his own apparently assumed cause and effect, stating “the building had already been badly damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas. Families living there knew it was unsafe but say they had nowhere else to go.”
Rowe failed to include any alternative possibilities – that Hamas’ underground tunnel network may have caused foundational instability to the structure, as a statement on Gazan social media alleged. Indeed, there is zero evidence that the building was damaged by Israel.
Rowe showcased Zaher al-Hindi, a local resident who allegedly lost relatives in the collapse, who said, “they had no residence. They came to live here. The building is collapsing. As you can see, there are no tents, no spaces for them to live in. The situation is difficult.”
Ironically, tents were clearly visible in the background of the video as he spoke. Additionally, COGAT – the Israeli agency that coordinates aid entry into Gaza – shared on social media on September 20 that, “in the past month alone, more than 20,000 new tents have entered the Gaza Strip.” Rowe should have included this information to provide his viewers with a full picture.
He continued to state that initially “crews didn’t have machines,” and featured Alessandro Mrakic from the United Nations agency United Nations Development Program (UNDP), who went on to state that the “situation as you see is tragic because we don’t have the equipment and machinery that is needed. So, there are actually people that are digging with their bare hands.” Bizarrely, the video simultaneously showed machinery operating in the background with dozens of jacketed workers standing around. Rowe did not explain the discrepancy.
UN Sources Deserve Scrutiny When Their Claims Shape Coverage of Israel
Additionally, giving airtime to a UNDP representative without providing background leaves much to be desired. The UNDP is a controversial body, having sponsored a conference led by Al-Mezan – an organization critics have linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization. It has also funded the anti-Israel organization Miftah, which accuses Israel of “massacres,” “apartheid,” and “summary executions.”
Rowe continued, saying that “Palestinian and UN officials say Israeli restrictions have contributed to shortages of the heavy machinery needed for rescue and debris removal. Israel says those restrictions are meant to prevent equipment that could have military uses from reaching militants…deadly situations like this collapse emphasize how desperate living conditions have become.”
What Rowe should have clearly explained is that dual-use items – goods capable of military application – have long been used to build Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. This significantly contributed to their terror capabilities, including to their October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel, massacre, brutalities, and hostage-taking.
Brandon Rowe has been the subject of repeated HonestReporting Canada alerts. On June 25, he amplified outrageous claims that Israel targeted children, committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, without providing any context. In April, he authored three articles which all amplified unverified Palestinian claims.
Rowe’s report presented a distorted view that stated baseless anti-Israel claims as fact, and merits a correction from CityNews.
