SKY News was called out live on air by an expert questioning why they had not shown photographs of the “thousands of Palestinian families who’ve lost everything” since the October 7 attacks.
The broadcaster had invited Ghada Karmi, a research fellow at the Exeter University's Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, on to talk about the situation in Palestine and Israel since the Hamas attacks one year ago.
Introducing Karmi, the Sky News host said that images coming out of Gaza had shown the region was “completely under rubble”.
The University of Exeter responded: “Exactly. I must first of all make comment about the affecting introduction you've just shown us, about the sad loss of Israeli families with which I totally, totally sympathise.
“However, where are the pictures of the thousands of Palestinian families who’ve lost everything?
“They've lost family members. They've lost their lives. They've lost their homes. Where are the photos of those people?”
The Sky News presenter did make mention of the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the October 7 attacks, as well as the number of buildings destroyed. However, the segment was presented from an Israeli memorial site.
Karmi, who was born in Jerusalem but was forced to leave to England after the 1948 Nakba, went on: “Secondly, you talk about memorials that have been set up in Israel for the hostages, that I also understand.
“The people of Gaza cannot set up memorials because they have been bombed and killed as we are speaking now.”
Later in the interview, the Palestinian expert said that Western leaders needed to take responsibility for the “genocide” in Gaza, saying that Israel’s war in the region would not be possible without US backing.
She went on: “The supporters of this genocide, the Western states including Britain, and Germany, and France, and Italy, and so on, who support the state of Israel, who arm it, who help to shield it from criticism.
“This is something we all should take notice of, we all should worry about, because Israel, apart from killing Palestinians, has killed international law. It has killed the norms of international behaviour.”
Sky News has previously faced criticism of its coverage of Palestine and Gaza, including after a bullet that killed a Palestinian child was reported as having “found its way into the van” where she was sitting.
In January, the outlet issued an apology after one of its hosts compared an Israel politician's comments on Gaza to the treatment of Jewish people in the Holocaust.
Since October 7, 2023, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, with around 2.3 million people displaced from their homes.
Some 1200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas offensive, with around 250 taken hostage.
Sky News has been approached for comment.
