NBC News Pulls Reporter Who Witnessed Israeli Attack in Gaza

Originally filed by Evan McMurry | 2:02 pm, July 17th, 2014- 172

NBC News reporter Ayman Mohyeldin spoke firsthand to MSNBC yesterday about an Israeli attack on a Gaza harbor that killed four children and injured three more. Mohyeldin was one of many reporters who witnessed the attack from a nearby hotel, and later tweeted in detail about the fatalities.

NBC News Reporter Describes Israeli Attack That Killed 4 Gazan Children

by Evan McMurry | 11:29 am, July 16th, 2014VIDEO297

Israeli shelling reportedly killed four children at a Gazan harbor Wednesday, while injuring three more. The attack was witnessed by scores of western journalists at an adjacent hotel, including NBC News foreign correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin, who described the incident to Daily Rundown anchor Chuck Todd.

Mohyeldin said that the injured children were carried up through the hotel before being loaded in to ambulances; four of the children were pronounced dead at the hospital.

Mohyeldin said he did not know why the harbor had been targeted, though he added that Israel’s advanced warning was ineffective on two counts: one, that all of Gaza was essentially being hit, leaving civilians with little place to go; and two, that Hamas was telling Gazans that the advanced warnings were “psychological warfare” on the part of Israel, and that civilians should stay in their homes.

Guardian’s Peter Beaumont described the scene here, and Washington Post’s William Booth did sphere. Watch the clip below, via MSNBC:

[Interestingly, the clip has vanished.]

But by Wednesday evening, NBC had removed him from Gaza entirely. According to Glenn Greenwald, who spoke to sources at the network unhappy with the decision, NBC removed him for “security concerns,” though NBC News foreign correspondent Richard Engel was reporting on the conflict later in the day.

Mondoweiss noted that the reassignment came shortly following Mohyeldin’s criticism of the State Department on Twitter and Facebook, criticism that was later deleted:

Mohyeldin, who came over to NBC News in 2011 after a star-making turn at Al Jazeera, has spoken before about the need to recognize Palestinian authorities and “rein in” Israel.

Mediaite has reached out to NBC News for comment and will update accordingly.

[h/t The Intercept]

[Image via screengrab]