Sarah Henderson has admitted that she wrongly accused a late Palestinian journalist, Roshdi Sarraj, who filed video for the ABC from Gaza, of holding “a Hamas ID card” in a fiery Senate estimates hearing this week.

The clash between the Liberal senator and ABC executives led to a headline in The Australian: “ABC investigates whether it hired Hamas terrorist for Middle-East coverage.”

The opposition communications spokesperson had held up a printout of an Israeli defence force report, saying: “Their work includes the fact that Sarraj has a Hamas ID card. And you don’t think that’s sufficient evidence?”

After estimates Henderson realised that she had made a mistake and called the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, to say so.

Henderson told Weekly Beast she had referenced the wrong Palestinian journalist and had written to the Senate communications committee to correct the record in Hansard.

“While the IDF concluded Mr Al-Sarraj was a Hamas military operative, I incorrectly said he held a Hamas ID card rather than the two Al Jazeera journalists I referenced in the hearing who had Hamas military ID numbers,” Henderson said.

The ABC’s editorial director, Gavin Fang, had been sparring with Henderson over the national broadcaster’s response to IDF claims that 170 media workers – including Sarraj – killed in the conflict were Hamas operatives.

Henderson said Fang had dismissed evidence she called “overwhelming and very compelling” that the public broadcaster had hired a Hamas terrorist.

“Mr Marks, Mr Fang is being completely flippant in relation to this matter,” she said “There’s very, very serious and significant evidence in relation to the ABC stringer that he was someone the ABC hired who was a Hamas terrorist, and the fact that you are being so flippant about the very significant evidence uncovered by the IDF is deeply........

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