JERUSALEM (VINnews) — An Israeli health official says a planned BBC interview was abandoned after he questioned the network about the accuracy of its coverage of health-related issues connected to the war in Gaza.

Prof. Mitch Schwaber, who heads Israel’s National Center for Infection Control at the Ministry of Health, discussed the episode in an interview with Beni Teitelbaum on Kan Moreshet Radio.

Schwaber said a senior BBC correspondent contacted him while preparing a special report on the health effects of the war and initially sought an off-the-record or background conversation.

Rather than immediately agreeing to the interview, Schwaber said he asked the journalist what safeguards would be used to prevent inaccurate information from appearing in the final report.

He said he then sent the correspondent a letter outlining six incidents that concerned him. Four, he said, involved what he regarded as inaccurate reporting about medical or health matters, while the other two raised broader questions about the journalist’s handling of information.

Schwaber said he was willing to participate if he could be confident that the resulting report would accurately reflect the information he provided.

His concern, he explained, was that a correction issued after publication may not reverse the effect of an initial report, particularly when the original claim has already been widely circulated.

The interview never took place, according to Schwaber.

He said the correspondent did not answer his questions and eventually stopped pursuing the interview. Schwaber said he has not heard from the reporter since.

One of the cases Schwaber pointed to was the October 2023 explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, an incident that generated competing claims about who was responsible and how many people were killed.

Schwaber said he objected to the BBC’s early coverage, arguing that it attributed the explosion to Israeli fire and initially reported a large number of deaths before the available evidence had been fully established.

Subsequent assessments by multiple sources concluded that the explosion was likely caused by a rocket launched from Gaza that failed or broke apart, although questions surrounding the incident and casualty figures continued to be disputed.

Schwaber said the hospital incident was only one of several examples he had raised with the BBC.

He argued that reporting on medical conditions and public health during wartime requires particular care because disputed or inaccurate claims can influence public opinion and have consequences well beyond the original story.

The BBC did not respond to Schwaber’s questions, according to his account, and the planned interview was ultimately dropped.