In 48 hours, 14,000 Palestinians babies will die in Gaza due to starvation. That blood libel was uttered by a UN official in an interview with the BBC and was then parroted by media outlets in Canada and worldwide.

Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, claimed without evidence in an interview with the BBC that: “There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them.”

Instead of applying journalistic scrutiny and standard due diligence, media outlets rushed to spread and amplify this bold falsehood, without even a basic fact-check.

The 48-hour timeline was a figment of Fletcher’s imagination, as was the projected mortality outcome.

After the allegation went viral, outrage ensued prompting Fletcher to walk back his remarks. The BBC was forced to do a follow-up article which clarified that the UN now says 14,000 babies face severe malnutrition in the next year – not death in two days – if a lot more aid trucks don’t reach Gaza soon.

But for media outlets that rushed to broadcast and publish the UN’s spurious claims, as the saying goes, a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

On CBC News TV on May 20, and which was featured on the CBC website and TikTok channel, CBC reported that “Babies at risk of starvation in Gaza, UN warns” which reported that:  “The United Nations says 14,000 babies are at risk of severe acute malnutrition if critical aid doesn’t arrive immediately.”

The report was headlined: “48 hours left to live for thousands of babies in Gaza, says UN” which featured an interview conducted by CBC Anchor Natasha Fatah and Rachel Cummings, Humanitarian Director, Save the Children in Gaza.

Accordingly, HonestReporting Canada filed a complaint with CBC News saying that CBC is duty bound to cover the UN’s own retraction and provide follow up coverage.

We are pleased to report that CBC told HonestReporting Canada that “In the interests of accuracy and the public record, we are updating and clarifying that information on all platforms where it appeared.”

Importantly, on May 22, CBC News Network broadcast the following on-air clarification:

“We also have a clarification that we would like to make. In an interview that aired on Tuesday, it was reported on a UN agency report that stated that 14,000 children could die in Gaza in the coming days unless urgent humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza. It later turned out that the UN itself erred and the 14,000 Palestinian children at risk of severe malnutrition was an estimate over the period of the coming year and not the next 48 hours.”

Watch the clip below:

On May 26, CBC News published the following correction and clarification to their website, stating:

“On May 20, CBC News reported on a statement from the United Nations saying that 14,000 Palestinian children risked death from severe malnutrition over the coming 48 hours. The UN later confirmed that it had erred when referring to a report from a partner organization, which estimated that 14,000 Palestinian children risked death from severe malnutrition over the period of the coming year, not the next 48 hours. As a result, and in the interests of accuracy and the public record, CBC News corrected and clarified that information on all platforms where it appeared the following day, once the error was identified.”

Also on May 20, CBC Radio’s The Current quoted Tom Fletcher as saying: “Let me describe what is on those trucks, this is baby food, baby nutrition. There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them. This is not food that Hamas are going to steal…”

On May 22, CBC The Current broadcast the following update read by anchor Matt Galloway:

“We have an update on yesterday’s story about humanitarian aid into Gaza. In an interview that aired on Wednesday, we report that UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said 14,000 babies in the territory could die in coming days unless urgent humanitarian aid is allowed into the Gaza. It turned out the UN itself erred and the 14,000 Palestinian children risking severe malnutrition were an estimate over the next 11 months, not the next 48 hours.”

Listen to the update below:

On May 21, CBC World Tonight broadcast the following update read by its anchor Susan Bonner:

“We have an update to a story we aired yesterday about Gaza. In an interview with the BBC, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said 14,000 babies in the territory could die in 48 hours if Israel did not immediately lift its blockades. Fletcher did not say how he arrived at that number. When asked for clarification, the UN says the data is highlighted in a report from the IPC, a partner organization that focuses on food security. It suggests the acute malnutrition of those infants, which could lead to death, could take place over the course of about a year, not 48 hours.”

Listen to the update below:

As well, television coverage posted to the CBC website and TikTok channel was also corrected and a clarification notice was published.

We appreciate the corrective action undertaken by the CBC, but sadly, other Canadian media outlets also gave a platform to this bold falsehood by the UN.

On May 20, a front-page and above the fold article by Globe and Mail reporter Janice Dickson said: “He also pointed to comments United Nations relief head Tom Fletcher told the BBC on Monday that 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if they’re not reached.”

After HonestReporting Canada filed a complaint with the Globe, the following clarification was published on May 27:

As well, on May 20, CTV National News anchor Omar Sachadina opened the broadcast by saying: “Thousands of babies face imminent death in Gaza, the urgent new warnings…” and then said later in the broadcast: “Turning now to a shocking warning to the world from the United Nations, that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die within 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them right away…” The report then included Fletcher’s false comments which were made to the BBC.

And on May 21, CTV News reporter Adrian Ghobrial published an article which stated: “U.N. Humanitarian Affairs Secretary-General Tom Fletcher said Tuesday that ‘there are 14-thousand babies who will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them’ with aid. Going on to add that the U.N. ‘runs all sorts of risks trying to get that baby food through to those mothers who cannot feed their children because they’re malnourished.’”

On May 21, CTV Morning did an interview with Doctors Without Borders representative, Frederic Vigneault, with the host saying: “The UN warned earlier this week the situation of starvation and what’s being described as forced famine, they call it chilling, there was this report yesterday, 14,000 babies could die in Gaza within a couple of days if aid does not reach people.” Vigneault nodded his head in agreement with this statement.

Finally, on two separate interviews on May 21 on CBQT-FM and CFYK-FM, Carleton University Professor Mira Sucharov said: “One official said that 14,000 children in Gaza would die in 48 hours if aid wasn’t resumed and that was 24 hours ago so this is a very dire situation right now.”

Listen to both segments below:

Rest assured, HonestReporitng Canada has filed complaints and is working round the clock to hold these news outlets accountable for publishing the UN’s blood libel.

In the backdrop of the recent murder of 2 staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who were to be engaged and were murdered by a terrorist outside a Jewish museum who shouted “Free Palestine,” we will never forget how words become bullets and how we must confront the hate that is in our midst.