The newspaper, which has repeatedly faced scrutiny for its Gaza coverage, had previously updated the story without publicly acknowledging the issues in its reporting
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Men look around on alert in the wake of gunfire shots as displaced Palestinians receive food packages from a US-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2025.
The Washington Post issued an apology on Tuesday for an article that, citing the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, claimed that Israeli troops had killed more than 30 people on Sunday at an aid site in Gaza, a story picked up by a variety of U.S. news outlets in spite of denials by Israeli forces and U.S.-backed aid contractors.
Israeli military officials said soldiers had fired warning shots toward “suspects” advancing toward an Israeli position nearby an aid distribution center but denied any connection between that incident and the claims of an attack on civilians collecting aid.
The Post’s acknowledgement came days after the newspaper, which has repeatedly faced scrutiny over its reporting on the war in Gaza and related issues, changed the story quietly, without issuing a public correction.
“The article failed to make clear if attributing the deaths to Israel was the position of the Gaza health ministry or a fact verified by The Post,” the Post said in an editor’s note. “The article and headline were updated on Sunday evening making it clear that there was no consensus about who was responsible for the shootings and that there was a dispute over that question.”
“While statements from Israel that it was unaware of injuries and that an initial inquiry indicated its soldiers didn’t fire at civilians near the site were included in all versions, The Post didn’t give proper weight to Israel’s denial and gave improper certitude about what was known about any Israeli role in the shootings,” the statement continued. “The early versions fell short of Post standards of fairness and should not have been published in that form.”
The newspaper has repeatedly faced accusations of bias and faulty reporting in its coverage of the war and the families of hostages. It has repeatedly been forced to issue corrections to high-profile stories accusing Israel of misconduct.
One of the lead reporters on the latest story, Louisa Loveluck, recently delivered a scathing speech to the Post newsroom criticizing Israel and elevating claims by the Health Ministry, without any mention of Hamas, after being nominated as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her reporting on the war.