Following public pressure, including a petition signed by more than 15,000 people, NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin will return to Gaza to continue reporting on the conflict there.
Thanks for all the support. Im returning to #Gaza to report. Proud of NBC’s continued commitment to cover the #Palestinian side of the story
— Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM) July 18, 2014
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On Wednesday, Mohyeldin witnessed an Israeli airstrike that killed four Palestinian boys. Despite reporting throughout the day on the tragedy, “NBC Nightly News” chose to use chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel to report on the day’s news from the region. Engel had just arrived in Tel Aviv.
As we reported Wednesday night, the perceived snub led to some anger within the NBC ranks. On Thursday, Glenn Greenwald reported that NBC had pulled Mohyeldin from Gaza due to “security concerns.” The group Jewish Voice for Peace went so far as to assemble a petition requesting NBC re-instate Mohyeldin immediately.
“Ayman Mohyeldin has done extraordinary reporting throughout the escalation of the conflict in Gaza, filing 25+ reports over the past 17 days,” an NBC News spokesperson says. “As with any news team in conflict zones, deployments are constantly reassessed. We’ve carefully considered our deployment decisions and we will be sending Ayman back to Gaza over the weekend. We look forward to his contributions in the coming days.”