Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking into filing a lawsuit against The New York Times for defamation over its reporting on Gaza starvation, he told Fox News on Thursday.
"[The] NYT should be sued," Netanyahu told Fox News' Bill Hemmer during an interview. "I'm actually looking at whether a country can sue the NYT, and I'm looking into it right now, because I think it's such a ...it's such a clear defamation.
During the exclusive interview, Netanyahu referenced the photo used on the front page of the article "Young, Old, and Sick Starve to Death in Gaza: 'There is Nothing'." The photo was of a young boy who was being held by his mother. The article was meant to highlight the humanitarian issue in Gaza.
The newspaper later sent out a correction, saying that they had acknowledged that the child in the photo had a preexisting medical condition that contributed to his appearance, and it was not caused by starvation. Neither the article nor the caption of the photo mentioned this information.
"I mean, you put a picture of a child that's supposed to then represent all these supposedly starving children, yet..." Netanyahu said. "They put in this picture of a child who has cerebral palsy."
Netanyahu said that their correction wasn't enough.
"It (the NYT) put out this thing," he said. "Then it corrects it with a denial the size of a postage stamp buried in the back pages."
The Times responds
The newspaper's spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Netanyahu's lawsuit is an "increasingly common playbook" and that their reporters will still continue to report on Gaza.
"Children in Gaza are malnourished and starving, as NYT reporters and others have documented," the spokesperson said.
"Mr. Netanyahu is referring to an update we made to a story about how the food crisis is affecting the civilian population. After publication, we learned that a child shown in that story -- in addition to being severely malnourished -- also had pre-existing health problems. That additional information gave readers a greater understanding of his situation," the spokesperson added.
"Attempts to threaten independent media providing vital information and accountability to the public are unfortunately an increasingly common playbook, but journalists continue to report from Gaza for the [NYT], bravely, sensitively, and at personal risk, so that readers can see firsthand the consequences of the war."