Channel 4 says son of Hamas official featured in ‘handful of minutes' of output
Channel 4 News has admitted the son of a Hamas official featured in parts of its daily coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
The boy in question, Abdullah al-Yazouri, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture, and he also featured in the BBC documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone.
Channel 4 said it had 'thoroughly reviewed' how the youngster came to appear in 'three short news segments for the programme', but denied he had featured in a documentary or any of its coverage which won awards.
The broadcaster said his appearances represented only a 'handful of minutes across hundreds of hours' of output.
A statement from the broadcaster said: 'Abdullah al-Yazouri did categorically not appear in any documentary broadcast on Channel 4, as has been erroneously misreported by the Daily Telegraph on the front page of this morning's early editions.
'The packages in which Abdullah al-Yazouri appeared were aired as part of daily news coverage during the conflict, representing a handful of minutes across hundreds of hours of Channel 4 News output covering the Israel-Hamas war.
'He appeared alongside other voices, including Israeli voices, as part of wider packaging and reporting for Channel 4 News and in line with our principles of due impartiality.'
Channel 4 said no payment was made to the boy or any of his family members, and that, once the foreign reporting team became aware of the role the boy's father held, they 'took a decision not to feature him again'.
The statement continued: 'Neither Abdullah al-Yazouri or any of members of his family received any payment from Channel 4 News for the appearances, and (director) Yousef Hammash was not involved in sourcing or filming him.
'As international media access is restricted, Abdullah was sourced through an established journalist who has also worked for other major global media outlets.
'As has been widely reported since February 18, subsequent to the broadcast of these news items, it emerged that Abdullah's father is Ayman al-Yazouri, a deputy agricultural minister in Gaza's Hamas-run government.
'The identity of the man named as his uncle in the first report was miscommunicated to Channel 4 News as his father by a local fixer on the ground.
'Channel 4 News' experienced foreign reporting team became aware his father held a technocratic role within the Hamas government in summer 2024 and they took a decision not to feature him again.
'Once Channel 4 News' senior leadership team recently became aware, action was taken to provide additional context to the archived online copy of the reports in which Abdullah features. Where context could not be added, namely to social media, the content was removed in line with standard editorial procedures. This action was taken on February 20.
'Abdullah al-Yazouri did not feature in any of Channel 4 News' award-winning coverage, including the International Emmy, RTS, Bafta, British Journalism Awards, or Broadcast Awards.'
The broadcaster said it is 'proud of its duly impartial coverage throughout the conflict which has upheld the highest editorial standards'.
'We continue to mark the contribution of our colleagues across Israel and Gaza who contributed to news coverage for Channel 4 News, in reporting the conflict between Israel and Hamas.'
Last year, Channel 4 News was named news programme of the year at the annual Royal Television Society (RTS) awards, and also took home the title of news provider of the year at the 2024 British Journalism Awards.
RTS said in a statement: 'The RTS has concluded its review following Channel 4 News' confirmation that no video material featuring Abdullah al-Yazouri has featured in their awards entries for 2024 or the forthcoming awards for 2025.'
Last week the BBC issued an apology and removed the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone from iPlayer, saying it had 'identified serious flaws' in the making of the programme.
A statement from the corporation added that a full 'fact-finding review' will be undertaken, and that it has 'no plans to broadcast the programme again in its current form or return it to iPlayer'.
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