A Washington Post correspondent who has faced scrutiny over major factual errors in her reporting on Gaza gave a scathing critique of Israel’s military conduct on Monday after the paper’s war coverage was named as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for international reporting — even as it has drawn accusations of bias stemming from its reporting on the ongoing war with Hamas.

Louisa Loveluck, a London-based correspondent focusing on the Middle East who was cited among several Post journalists in the Pulitzer announcement for their reporting about the conflict, delivered virtual comments to the paper’s newsroom during which she decried Israel’s military actions in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks, according to audio of her remarks obtained by Jewish Insider. 

“Two million civilians are trapped there through no fault of their own,” Loveluck said in her remarks to the newsroom on Monday. “The life they lead there is a nightmare. The level of suffering is so grave that we have often struggled to find the words.”

In emphasizing that “individual stories are lost in the deluge,” Loveluck highlighted one investigation recognized by the Pulitzer committee that explored the circumstances around the death of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old girl allegedly killed by Israel as she and her relatives sought to escape fighting in Gaza City.

“The Israeli military maintains to this day that it was not there, it was not responsible,” she told her colleagues, while urging “anyone who can bear it to read her story.”

Even as she also named the tragic consequences of the war among civilians in Gaza, one Post journalist present for the speech, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive issue, took issue with Loveluck’s remarks on Monday, noting she did not seem to “mention Hamas or the hostages once” during her remarks.

Loveluck’s omissions, the journalist told JI, “really exemplifies the Post’s coverage of the war: ignoring Hamas’ actions — so readers don’t understand why Israel is fighting in Gaza at all.”

The Post did not respond to a request for comment from JI.

Since Hamas’ attacks, the Post has faced ongoing backlash from critics alleging that the newspaper has veered into activism while demonstrating an institutional bias against Israel in the language it has used to report on the conflict as well as family members of hostages held in Gaza, among other issues.

In her own coverage, Loveluck has faced criticism for significant errors in her reporting on the conflict — most notably including a prominent editor’s note to correct a front-page story on Palestinian infants who had been born in the West Bank and Israel and were separated from their parents during the war in Gaza.

The lengthy editor’s note, which had been quietly added to the story last year following a weeks-long delay, listed multiple inaccuracies undermining the story’s core claim that Palestinian mothers were required by the Israeli government to return to Gaza when their travel permits expired. The editor’s note also acknowledged that the triple-bylined story had not initially sought comment from Israeli officials, “an omission that fell short of the Post’s standards for fairness,” it said.

Two other articles co-written by Loveluck also drew substantial corrections last year — raising questions about the Post’s commitment to providing accurate and balanced reporting on the evolving war in Gaza.

Elsewhere in her remarks to the Post newsroom on Monday, Loveluck referenced casualty figures provided by Gaza health authorities that do not differentiate between civilians and Hamas combatants, a distinction that critics have said the newspaper has regularly failed to acknowledge.  

“More than 50,000 people have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza in just 18 months,” she said in the speech. “For the last two, there’s been a total block on all food and aid into the enclave. The lives of 2 million Palestinians are in the balance.”

“Doing this work is not easy, but it has always been the right thing to do,” Loveluck said in her speech. 

Last month, Loveluck also accepted an award from the Overseas Press Club, which had recognized the Post’s Gaza reporting with its inaugural Shireen Abu Akleh Award, named after the Palestinian journalist mistakenly killed by Israel while on assignment in the West Bank in 2022.

In her speech, she brought a similarly jaundiced eye toward Israel and its efforts to fight Hamas in Gaza.        

“Media scrutiny of Israel’s military conduct in Gaza has helped reveal abuses,” Loveluck said. “It has not brought accountability for victims.”