Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford caused a firestorm on Wednesday in the wake of her report on the elimination of Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In her report, Crawford said Haniyeh was a senior member of Hamas and described him as “a very moderate leader”.
One user on X wrote in response, “Poor lady, she has lost two of her bosses in one. Please be respectful of her pain.”
Another wondered, “Who pays her salary?”
Yet another one wrote, “Do you guys never wonder how it is that every attack by Hamas/Hezbollah you treat as if it was some sort of accident, whereas any action by Israel is a ‘provocation’ that ‘ratchets up tension’? In 1945 Alex would have called Hitler a moderate.”
Meanwhile, the StandWithUsUK organization shared a video of Crawford’s report and added, “Alex Crawford on Sky News calling Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh ‘a very moderate leader’. Haniyeh helped orchestrate the Oct. 7 massacre, killing over 1200 people, and celebrated it proudly. Is this what we’re calling ‘moderate’ these days?”
The latest controversy involving Crawford came just one day after the Board of Deputies of British Jews accused her of exhibiting a “disgraceful lack of professionalism" after she claimed that Israel has a “lust for revenge” in an article published to the broadcaster’s website.
Sky News came under fire in November, when then-Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy was asked by one of its presenters, Kay Burley, whether Israel agreeing to free 150 security prisoners in exchange for 50 hostages held by Hamas showed that Israel sees Hamas lives as worth less than Israeli lives.
Levy’s reaction, in which he was seen raising his eyebrows in astonishment over the question, went viral.
Burley later provided the following explanation for the ridiculous question in a post on X: "We often put one side of an argument to a guest so they can offer a counterclaim. Yesterday, I raised a controversial view from an earlier guest to allow another to respond. Each morning we’re dedicated to presenting fairly the news of this war."
Sky News again caused an uproar in January, when its host, Belle Donati, compared the idea of voluntary migration by Gazans to the treatment of Jewish people during the Holocaust during an interview with Likud MK Danny Danon.
The network later apologized for the incident.