Even before Israel released a medical document showing Marah Abu Zuhri’s condition, an Italian media report mentioned her ‘acute leukemia’
An Associated Press report suggested a Gazan woman evacuated to Italy to receive medical treatment died of malnutrition after arriving. The report did not note that the woman suffered from a severe pre-existing illness: leukemia.
The Aug. 16 report—which was also published in ABC News, U.S. News and World Report, and the Los Angeles Times—said the woman, 20-year-old Marah Abu Zuhri, “arrived in a ‘state of severe physical deterioration'” and died after “entering a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest.” It then cited a U.N. spokesman to contend that “starvation and malnutrition in Gaza were at their highest levels since the Israel-Hamas war began” and that “nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July.”
Shortly thereafter, on Aug. 17, Israel released a medical report from Aug. 9 showing that Zuhri suffered from leukemia, which can lead to cardiac arrest by lowering red blood cell levels and causing blood clots. The diagnosis did not make it into the AP’s description of Zuhri’s condition, even as one Italian media report published on the same day as the U.S. wire service’s piece referenced Zuhri’s “already fragile condition due to acute leukemia.” The AP cited “Italian media” when reporting on Zuhri’s name but not her condition.
The AP also omitted Israel’s role in evacuating Zuhri to Italy. According to COGAT, the Israeli agency that facilitates humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza, Italian authorities contacted the Jewish state to request Zuhri’s evacuation, which Israel approved. Zuhri and other Gazans in need of medical attention were then evacuated from the strip before boarding Italian planes in the southern Israeli city of Eilat. The AP said Zuhri was “removed from the Gaza Strip as part of a humanitarian mission” but did not provide details.
The AP has not updated its story to mention Zuhri’s leukemia diagnosis and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ordeal is reminiscent of a recent New York Times piece on children purportedly suffering from starvation in Gaza. The piece’s lead image—which was plastered on the Times‘s front page—showed an emaciated Gazan toddler, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, being held by his mother. A caption accompanying the photo cited the mother to say Mohammed was “born a healthy child.” He actually suffered from cerebral palsy, a condition that appears in infancy and causes developmental problems. The Times acknowledged his “pre-existing health problems” in an editors’ note.
In addition to the AP piece, a BBC article published on Aug. 17 under the headline, “Malnourished Gazan woman flown to Italy dies in hospital” said Zuhri died after being “evacuated to Italy for treatment while severely emaciated.” The piece also failed to mention Zuhri’s leukemia and cited malnutrition death figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
The BBC amended the piece on Monday to remove “malnourished” from its headline and include mention of Zuhri’s leukemia diagnosis.
The piece’s author, Rachel Muller-Heyndyk, is no fan of Israel, having once praised a “brilliant” thread from top Bernie Sanders adviser Jeremy Slevin calling Israel “a state, like others, that oppresses and dispossesses the powerless.” She has since locked her X profile.
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