Nic Robertson

International Diplomatic Editor

Grade

D-

Reported Claim: Beheadings at Kfar Aza

Summary: First reporter from a major U.S. news outlet to repeat a version of the “beheaded babies” claim that originated from Israel’s i24News reporter Nicole Zedeck on October 10, 2023.

During live reporting from Kfar Aza, no attempt was made to verify the claim or question its veracity when touring the site with the IDF.

  • Robertson did not cite any sources in his initial report posted on CNN's social media on October 10, 2023 at approximately 4PM ; The post description notes it is a description of what the IDF told Robertson.

    However, a report published on Oct 13, 2023 with Robertson's byline was titled "Children found ‘butchered’ in Israeli kibbutz, IDF says, as horror of Hamas’ attacks near border begins to emerge"

  • Robertson made no mention attempting to verify the claim with an official source.

  • While Robertson was at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, the site of the attack and claim, he did not question the accuracy of the claim or attempt to verify the credibility of his sources.

    Additionally, Robertson made no mention of any attempting to collect evidence to support the claim.

  • Robertson did not issue any retraction with regards to the claims he reported in his initial report and the published report on Oct 13.

  • "Israeli official says government cannot confirm babies were beheaded in Hamas attack"

    CNN

    Oct 12, 2023 | 12:55PM

Sara Sinder

Senior National Correspondent
Co-anchor, CNN News Central

Grade

C+

Reported Claim: Babies and toddlers found with heads decapitated

Summary: Presented unverified claims by Israeli government as fact in live broadcast; acknowledged mistake on-air and apologized for not taking care in reporting the following day.

  • "ISRAELI GOVT: BABIES AND TODDLERS FOUND WITH "HEADS DECAPITATED"

    CNN

    Oct 11, 2023 | 11:45 AM
    Views: 11M

  • Sinder did not interview an official source during her broadcast to verify the claim.

  • Sinder did ask for or present evidence when making the initial claim.

    Sinder also did not make any attempt on-air to test the veracity of the claim.

  • "Yesterday the Israeli Prime Minister's office said that it had confirmed Hamas beheaded babies & children while we were live on the air. The Israeli government now says today it CANNOT confirm babies were beheaded. I needed to be more careful with my words and I am sorry."

    X | @sarasinder

    Oct 12, 2023

  • "Israeli official says government cannot confirm babies were beheaded in Hamas attack"

    CNN

    Oct 12, 2023 | 12:55PM

Samuel Forey

Special Correspondent

Grade

B+

Reported Claim: Beheaded children at Kfar Aza

Summary: As part of a tour with the IDF to Kfar Aza on October 11th, reported statements by IDF soldiers on atrocities committed, and was explicit that the specific claim of beheadings is unverified. Followed up on the story in April 2024 to trace the development and dissemination of the rumor.

  • The headline in published report did not include the source in the headline: Hamas's massacre in Kfar Aza: 'We collect the bodies and put them in bags. It's a nightmare'

    Forey attributes the quote from the headline to an anonymous reservist solider in paragraph two.

  • Forey is explicit about the claim being unverified, writing, “Rumors of multiple beheadings of children have circulated. No Israeli official has yet confirmed them.”

    He later describes the process, speaking to half a dozen soldiers at the site, and that no mention was made of beheaded babies.

  • In a follow up in Le Monde published April 3, 2024, Forey is quoted saying, "I don't think this story is probable. The soldiers had been at the kibbutz since at least the day before. Such an atrocious event would have been documented, and not confided by some soldiers to some journalists.

    I contacted two first-aid organizations deployed at the time of the attack. None of them mentions any beheadings – without saying they didn't happen. As of October 11, the date of publication of my article, I cannot confirm any beheadings."

  • On October 11, Forey Tweeted:

    "Clarification: I was in Kfar Aza yesterday. No one told me about beheadings, much less about children being beheaded, much less about 40 children being beheaded."

  • On April 3, 2024, Le Monde published an article titled '40 beheaded babies': Deconstructing the rumor at the heart of the information battle between Israel and Hamas' (Forey was a co-author).

    The article details the information collecting process, adding, "Journalists also interviewed military personnel on site, often reserve soldiers, whose reliability is questionable...The Israeli Defense Forces, whose staff itself has not always shown caution or restraint in the 40 babies case, reminded later that a reserve soldier "should not describe events whose details are unclear and unofficial."

Bel Trew

International Correspondent

Grade

C-

Reported Claim: [Hamas] decapitated women and children (Headline edited)

Summary: Posted, then deleted, a tweet addressing decapitation claims that contributed to the spread of misinformation during the critical early reporting period after October 7th, 2023. Her choice to engage with and amplify unverified claims about decapitations demonstrated poor judgment in crisis reporting. Her subsequent clarification came on October 11th, 2023, after the initial amplification of unverified information. It stated that “I just wanted to clarify that I did not tweet 40 babies had been beheaded. I tweeted that foreign media had been told women and children had been decapitated but we had not been shown bodies - which was my response to reports which had gone viral about the 40 babies.”

  • Her tweets, including the follow-up clarification, fail to mention the source of claims and passively mentions “foreign media had been told” without explaining by whom.

    The report itself mentions the claim without any specification who the source is. This is not clarified until the subtitle and the report’s content.

  • While Trew cited in her report:

    ‘When Hamas came they cut the heads of women and children,’ an Israeli major claims while making a chopping motion towards his neck, writes Bel Trew. The bodies are hidden so it’s impossible to verify, but it is clear much blood has been shed in the village near the Gaza border.

    She does not make this verification with her initial tweet.

  • Trew clearly states in her own words that she did not verify claims by reviewing evidence (i.e. images, video, or physical viewing of the bodies) before amplifying them.

  • On October 11, Trew Tweeted:

    “I just wanted to clarify that I did not tweet 40 babies had been beheaded. I tweeted that foreign media had been told women and children had been decapitated but we had not been shown bodies - which was my response to reports which had gone viral about the 40 babies. I realised the way my tweet was written was too short to explain the full context, so deleted it. My headline of my story references that toddlers were killed.”

    Even though her headline still says “babies were slaughtered” and her original headline read “They decapitated women and children”.

  • The report that leaves open-ended and doesn’t directly deny the repeatedly disproven claims that there were beheaded babies/children is still up.

Anna Botting

Chief presenter

Grade

A-

Reported Claim: Decided not to run the “beheaded babies” story

Summary: Demonstrated journalistic integrity by refusing to report unverified claims about beheaded babies at Kfar Aza. Despite five major British newspapers running front-page stories about the allegations, Botting maintained professional skepticism and transparency about the lack of verification, while still acknowledging confirmed casualties. While acknowledging the source of the claim to be “one Israeli journalist who said that she was told by soldiers there that 40 babies had died and some of them had been beheaded”. One small note - Botting made a premature judgement on the unverified claim by calling it “truly horrifying” in passing.