BBC’s Anti-Israel Bias At Work Again: Narrator On Film Is Son Of High-Ranking Hamas Official

As per usual, the BBC offered an apology for another manipulative anti-Israel piece that was presented as impartial.

This time, the BBC acknowledged that a BBC documentary titled “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” which was narrated by a boy from Gaza, neglected to mention that the boy just happened to be the son of a high-ranking Hamas official.

BBC Gaza documentary breached editorial guidelines on accuracy by failing to disclose child narrator was son of Hamas official, review finds https://t.co/0YkaPtGUX5

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) July 14, 2025

A review of the situation found that three members of the independent production company Hoyo Films knew the narrator’s father served as deputy minister of agriculture for Hamas in Gaza and the BBC team was not “sufficiently proactive” with initial editorial checks and displayed a “lack of critical oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions” before the broadcast aired.

A spokesman for the media watchdog Ofcom, which will conduct an investigation, stated, “Having examined the BBC’s findings, we are launching an investigation under our rule, which states that factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience.”

BBC News CEO Deborah Turness admitted, “We are owning where we have made mistakes, finding out what went wrong, acting on the findings, and we’ve said we’re sorry.”

BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, said the report “identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy.”

“It’s not for the government to say who should and shouldn’t work at the BBC,” British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy stated. “My job is to make sure that we uphold the highest standards and that the public and parliament can have confidence in the BBC. I think, given the recent events, that has been called into question, but the BBC in recent weeks has made big strides to try to reset that relationship with the public, and show that they have grip on the very, very serious issues.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism responded to the report, calling its recommendations — which included creating “a new leadership role in news documentaries and current affairs,” issuing “new editorial guidance,” and a new “first gate” process — “frankly insulting. … The report says nothing we didn’t already know: paying licence fee money to a Hamas family was bad. The report yields no new insight, and almost reads like it’s trying to exonerate the BBC.”

In March, a producer for the BBC contacted the Israeli Embassy in London and asked if it could supply “an Israeli military voice” who would “be critical of” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military offensive against Hamas.

In August 2024, the BBC rejected a call from more than 200 Jewish staffers, contractors, suppliers, and contributors for a formal investigation into its alleged antisemitic reporting.

“We write to you today to request an urgent formal investigation by the BBC board into systemic problems of anti-Semitism and bias at the BBC, alongside senior management’s demonstrable failure to properly address the issue,” the letter stated, adding the signatories’ “anguish and disbelief because we fear we have now exhausted the process of raising our very serious concerns about anti-Jewish racism with BBC Management,” according to The Telegraph.

“The group also sent the board members what they describe as a non-exhaustive list of social media breaches and ‘impartiality breaches in matters of public controversy relating to Israel and Gaza,’ broadcast mistakes that ‘suggest bias,’ and an account from anonymous sources ‘of the fear and mental health toll on Jewish BBC staff, their feelings of isolation and alienation from their bosses and experiences of prejudice and racism at work,’” Deadline reported.

The letter pointed out “impartiality breaches in matters of public controversy relating to Israel and Gaza,” broadcast mistakes that “suggest bias,” and an account from anonymous sources “of the fear and mental health toll on Jewish BBC staff, their feelings of isolation and alienation from their bosses and experiences of prejudice and racism at work.”

But BBC Chairman Samir Shah dismissed the call for a formal investigation, responding that the BBC was “successful” in creating an “inclusive working environment where people from all backgrounds feel welcome, safe and supported. … I am satisfied, however, that where we have made errors, the executive has acted appropriately and handled matters in accordance to the guidance as they apply to my colleagues. Following your correspondence, I have asked the executive to review the papers you sent and to see if there’s anything included that has not been previously considered.”

In November 2023, the BBC, which had presented an editorial slant against Israel for years, was forced to apologize for falsely accusing the Israel Defense Forces of committing war crimes in its attack on a Hamas command node at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.

A BBC presenter falsely claimed twice on air that Reuters had reported that the IDF had targeted medical teams, as well as Arabic speakers, instead of what Reuters actually reported, which was that the IDF had included medical teams and Arabic speakers on its team.

Later, another presenter offered a muted apology on behalf of the network, stating, “And now, an apology from the BBC. BBC News, as it covered initial reports that Israeli forces had entered Gaza’s main hospital, we said that medical teams and Arabic speakers were being targeted; this was incorrect and misquoted a Reuters report. We should have said IDF forces included medical teams and Arabic speakers for this operation.”

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If you don’t want to apologize over and over again for the false information you propagate against Israel – maybe just start publishing the truth? pic.twitter.com/uc62A93yqG

— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) November 15, 2023