CNN reporter Sara Sidner offered an apology on Thursday for not verifying Israel’s allegations and reporting false facts that Hamas beheaded babies and children during last weekend’s attack on occupied-territories adjacent to Gaza.
“Yesterday the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said that it had confirmed Hamas beheaded babies and children while we were live on air. The Israeli government now says it cannot confirm babies were beheaded. I needed to be more careful with my words and I am sorry,” tweeted Sidner on X (formerly Twitter).
“President Biden confirmed seeing it and then backtracked,” she added.
CNN issued an update on X indicating that Israel could not substantiate or confirm the baby beheading claims.
Israel’s military declared a “state of war alert” after Palestinian Islamist Group Hamas fired a barrage of 5,000 rockets and sent fighters into “Israeli territory.”
Hamas, the governing body in Gaza, referred to this infiltration operation as “Al Aqsa Flood” and called for a countrywide insurgency against Israel. Combined death toll from Israel and Palestine has now surpassed 3,000.