How quickly did it take for the MSM to start printing Hamas propaganda after the explosion in a hospital parking lot?

Pretty much immediately. Beege wrote about what likely happened there. John has an analysis of the blast site here.

In theory the hospital story was one where skilled experts on the spread of disinformation could have shined. Did any?

— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) October 18, 2023

The whole story was implausible from the beginning. Sure, it was not impossible that a stray Israeli bomb accidentally hit a hospital, although it certainly would have been unusual for Israel to drop bombs right next to a hospital filled with foreign doctors. Israel knows that fighting the enemy is only half the battle for them because every international organization has been trying to delegitimize their self-defense for decades. They don’t generally hand huge propaganda victories to their enemies.

Today in @TheFP with @ollywiseman.https://t.co/lCnwYujnOi

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2023

Within hours video from the area pretty decisively showed that the likely culprit for the explosion was a misfired rocket from an Islamist group based in Hamas-occupied territory. Not that this stopped or even slowed down the spread of the libelous story that Israel killed 500 Palestinians and innocent doctors who were treating them.

NEW: @IsraelWarRoom blasts New York Times for editing headline on the powerful missile that bombed hospital in Gaza slaughtering hundreds of civilians, says, "We see you stealth-editing your headlines to cover your lies, @nytimes" pic.twitter.com/ouRzPYIY7H

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) October 18, 2023

Newspapers around the world uncritically printed Hamas’ spin on the incident before any evidence of what happened could be verified. News outlets that constantly complain about others spreading misinformation just took the word of Hamas and ran with the story. They didn’t check a single fact.

The people who spent the last many years demanding censorship of "misinformation" and "disinformation" have spent 24 hours spreading horrific and damaging unverified allegations pushed by a terrorist organisation as the truth on their gigantic platforms.

— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) October 18, 2023

Now in the light of day, the entire story is collapsing. The hospital still stands, almost undamaged, and there is evidence that a relatively small explosion took place in an adjacent parking lot–it looks nothing like an airstrike from a bomb.

More footage of Ahli Hospital parking area. No crater. No damage to buildings. Awnings still on.
Inflated death numbers! pic.twitter.com/a5ai6etTXv

— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) October 18, 2023

That is not an airstrike on a hospital. Not even close. Even the solar panels on the hospital roof are still standing, indicating that the explosion wasn’t even that large.

Indeed, within 10m of the impact site there are cars which appear mostly undamaged. pic.twitter.com/yUs2MQI2VD

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) October 18, 2023

If 500 people had been killed by a bomb and people were being exhumed from the rubble, there is nothing to indicate it. Last night Hamas did a press conference with a doctor surrounded by covered bodies–a weird kind of press conference–and we were just supposed to take it all at face value.

In one of its first tweets about the bomb at al-Ahli al-Arab hospital, The New York Times used a photo from a different bombing site.

I’ve traced the photo to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, which is approximately 25 km from Gaza City where the hospital is located. https://t.co/TJj2HNU9mx pic.twitter.com/VHg8lnjaYP

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 18, 2023

Hamas supporters seized the “incident” and the false news reports put out by the MSM to slander Israel, and Arab governments all expressed outrage, canceling meetings with President Biden. Riots broke out. All fed by obvious propaganda amplified by the MSM.

Mediaite founder and NewsNation anchor Dan Abrams blasted the media for credulously reporting on Hamas blaming Israel for an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, characterizing it as a “disturbing rush to judgment.”

“Initial reports from Hamas — from Hamas! — put the death toll at 500 people, which would make it one of the deadliest air strikes in a decade and a half,” noted Abrams.

“But as news of the explosion broke, there was a disturbing rush to judgment by mainstream news outlets, including the AP, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, all immediately taking a statement by the Hamas, terrorist-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip, putting the blame squarely on an Israeli airstrike,” he continued before playing clips of the media’s instant reaction to the explosion.

“They’re all treating the health ministry as if it’s like a legitimate source! This is Hamas,” exclaimed Abrams after rolling the tape.  “The headlines from major media outlets repeating the report that hundreds were killed by Israel. Look, it never quite made sense that Israel, as it pauses its incursion into Gaza to make sure it has international support, would strike a hospital of all places.”

Footage from ground level this morning shows essentially no crater. And very little damage to the building around 20m away from the impact site. pic.twitter.com/xnhOSjYf9E

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) October 18, 2023

Blaming Hamas for this libel spreading around the world is a bit ridiculous. Hamas is filled with pathological liars, and everybody knows that in war propaganda is pumped out constantly. Of course, Hamas is to blame for starting the firestorm of hate.

But the real criminals in this case are our very own MSM, who must have known that Hamas was not to be trusted to tell the truth, yet they spread the lies far and wide, pushing falsehoods out uncritically. They are the ones to blame for the reach of the libel. They must have known that there was more to the story and rushed to print Hamas’ version.

WATCH: Rep. Rashida Tlaib tells anti-Israel protesters outside the Capitol that Israel bombed the hospital in Gaza pic.twitter.com/vTBxzIKTd7

— Alana Goodman (@alanagoodman) October 18, 2023

Don’t expect any apologies, and certainly don’t expect the New York Times or any other MSM outlet to turn on Hamas. And certainly don’t expect anybody who is inclined to dislike Israel to believe anything other than Hamas’ official story, however obvious a lie. Many outlets are still playing the he said/she said game, despite the obviousness of Hamas’ lies.

This is turning into a huge embarrassment for the @nytimes. False headline, wrong picture. Total journalistic malpractice. Literally “fake news.” https://t.co/Oqqqt1Ekcd

— Marc Thiessen 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦🇹🇼🇮🇱 (@marcthiessen) October 18, 2023

Our media is trash. Scum. Propagandists. This wasn’t a sincere mistake. They took Hamas’ press releases and printed them as truth.

This is one of the many reasons you simply must subscribe to Hot Air. We don’t claim to be perfect, because nobody is. But we do our best to get the truth out and hold the MSM accountable for its lies. Use the code SAVEAMERICA to get 40% off the subscription price.