A new analysis from a UK-based think tank shows that many major media outlets have credulously parroted flawed figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health. The Henry Jackson Society (HJS) released a 40-page report last week following a review of Gaza health ministry figures and how that data has appeared in hundreds of news reports across four months of the war between Israel and the terror group Hamas. While often given credence in media reports, HJS’s analysis of health ministry data has found the numbers to contain “widespread inaccuracies and distortion.” HJS analyzed nearly 1,400 news reports from February through May of this year that included a reference to the war’s death toll as counted by the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas. The review included reports from major outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, the BBC, Reuters, The Associated Press, and the Australian ABC. Over the course of the review, HJS found that the media overwhelmingly favored reporting Ministry of Health figures over those put out by the Israeli government. Just 5% of the reports analyzed cited Israeli figures, while 98% of the reports cited fatality numbers put out by the Hamas-run health department. “In 19% of media reports examined, numbers provided by Hamas-run institutions were used without citing any source, thereby suggesting those figures were undisputed,” HJS said. “Furthermore, fewer than one in every 50 articles mentioned that the figures provided by the MoH were unverifiable or controversial. Strikingly, the Israeli statistics had their credibility questioned in half of the few articles that incorporated them.” CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE In 84% of the reports, the fatality number cited did not differentiate between combatant and civilian deaths, potentially giving a flawed perception of the state of the war. Hamas’ figures should be viewed skeptically given that the terror group is a direct participant in the war and thus has a deep interest in how it is reported, according to HJS. Beyond the conflict of interest, an HJS review found deep flaws within the health ministry data that have led to potentially severe overcounting of civilian fatality numbers. “Our investigation found numerous statistical anomalies in the MoH’s fatality lists, including significant daily increases in the reported deaths of women and children that are mathematically impossible,” the report states. “Furthermore, the inclusion of natural deaths in war-related fatality counts, the erroneous categorisation of men as women and children, and the failure to account for deaths caused by internal Palestinian violence or misfired rockets from Gaza have all contributed to inflated and misleading numbers.”