An ABC reporter has been attacked in a heated exchange in a WhatsApp chat group for international media about this week’s violence in Israel.
The broadcaster’s Middle East correspondent Tom Joyner labeled reports of babies being beheaded by Hamas terrorists in Israel ‘bulls***’ in a series of now-deleted messages to hundreds of international journalists and broadcasters.
“The baby story is bulls***,” he wrote in the group chat aimed at media representatives sharing information about attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists on Tuesday.
The journalist’s message was quickly condemned by other members of the group, with one writing ‘Would you care to withdraw this now?’
ABC Middle East correspondent Tom Joyner (pictured, right) came under fire after he posted a message in an international WhatsApp group chat claiming Hamas beheading babies was ‘bulls***’
“I’m sorry for the wording — I’m sorry about that,” Joyner replied.
“But we have yet to see clear evidence.”
“Why hasn’t there been anything clear from the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) or from Netanyahu,” he added.
Another member of the group retorted: ‘Why are you choosing this hill to be humiliated?’
Joyner is reporting on the conflict between Israel and Palestine and has produced numerous stories on the unfolding events.
There is still no clear confirmation either way of the claim that Joyner was commenting on.
Joyner was criticized by other members of the media on the panel, becoming the second ABC journalist this week to come under fire for their stance on violence in Israel and Palestine.
Joyner is the second ABC journalist to come under fire for the conflict in Israel and its aftermath in Australia.
ABC political reporter Nour Haydar came under fire this week after sharing controversial tweets Palestinian militant group Hamas carrying out a horrific terrorist attack in the Jewish homeland on Saturday, killing hundreds of innocent civilians.
After the attacks, hundreds of protesters caused chaos outside the Sydney Opera House shouting ‘gas the Jews’ and ‘f*** the Jews’, prompting NSW Premier Chris Minns to cancel an upcoming Free Palestine rally.
ABC political reporter Nour Haydar has retweeted several tweets about the Israel-Palestine conflict in recent days.
Ms Haydar did not appear to support his decision to ban the upcoming protest and shared a message from Palestinian activist Randa Abdel-Fattah.
“How is it possible that Palestinians in Australia are being censored for their language, protests, grief, called animals, accused of supporting terrorism, called instigators and an Australian Jewish organization openly calls for genocide,” the post read. new on Twitter.
The comments were in response to the Australian Jewish Association supporting airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza in retaliation for terror attacks on Israel.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, airstrikes have killed over 1,100 Palestinians. Officials have not said how many civilians are among the dead.
‘Pure evil must be eradicated from this earth. Flat him out,” wrote the Australian Jewish Association.
The political reporter (pictured) has been with the ABC for six years and is based at Parliament House in Canberra
“Sometimes to eradicate pure evil, innocents die. It’s sad that Hamas hides among the civilian population. It’s sad that they don’t want their own children to bring this on them. It’s a double war crime.’
Ms Haydar’s recent online activity caught the attention of 2GB presenter Ray Hadley.
“I don’t know if this is covered by the ABC’s social media policy, but it’s been reposted a lot,” he told listeners.
“So we need to check with the ABC boss to see if the posts from Nour Hadar, even though they weren’t her words, are at odds with the ABC and their policy on social media posts.”
Another update Ms Haydar shared was from The Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, Bethan McKernan, who said: ‘Initial reports emerging that Israeli settlers indiscriminately opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians in Qusra near Nablus.’
A third update from Human Rights Watch says: “Deliberate killings of civilians, hostage-taking, and collective punishment are horrific crimes that have no justification.”
Along with Hadley, several Australians were quick to call out Ms Haydar for her retweets.
“Does Nour Haydar work for ABC or Al-Jazeera? Excited to see taxpayer dollars paying the salary of a clearly biased ABC reporter.
An ABC spokeswoman did not respond to questions about whether the retweets were appropriate or whether any action would be taken.
“This is a personal social media account, not an ABC account or ABC content,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
“All staff are required to comply with ABC Social Media guidelines.”
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