BBC report finds Gaza documentary narrated by Hamas terrorist's son breached editorial standards
By David Spector
Published July 15, 2025
An internal BBC report found Monday that a documentary on Gaza it aired in February violated the broadcaster's editorial standards for accuracy.
The documentary "Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone," featured narration from a boy, 13, named Abdullah, but the film failed to disclose that Abdullah was the son of senior Hamas official Ayman Alyazouri.
The BBC pulled the documentary from its online streaming platform in February, just five days after it was aired, and issued an apology.
"Since the transmission of our documentary on Gaza, the BBC has become aware of the family connections of the film's narrator, a child called Abdullah. We've promised our audiences the highest standards of transparency, so it is only right that as a result of this new information, we add some more detail to the film before its retransmission. We apologise for the omission of that detail from the original film," the BBC said in a statement at the time.
THE BBC BREACHED EDITORIAL GUIDELINES OVER 1,500 TIMES IN ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT, REPORT CLAIMS
The documentary was widely condemned when it aired. Journalist David Collier, who broke the story of the narrator's connection to the terrorist group, called the BBC "a propaganda tool of Hamas." A group of 45 Jewish television professionals wrote a letter to the BBC urging them to pull the broadcast and called for an independent investigation.
The new investigation found that the BBC was unaware of Abdullah's lineage prior to the documentary's broadcast, but three members of the production company Hoyo Films did know that the boy's father was a Hamas official.
The probe, however, criticized the broadcaster for not being "sufficiently proactive" with its due diligence ahead of broadcast, and admonished it for a "lack of critical oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions" regarding the documentary ahead of broadcast.
The review claimed that the use of the Hamas-linked narrator did not influence the content of the film, but said the inclusion of the boy was "not appropriate."
"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 News CEO Deborah Turness told the BBC's Radio 4.
The BBC has vowed to take steps to address the failure, including issuing new guidance on the use of narrators in documentaries centering on controversial topics, the creation of a new leadership role focusing on documentaries and a new review process that ensures that "no high-risk long form programs can be formally commissioned until all potential compliance considerations are considered and listed."
'CORROSIVELY WOKE' BBC CONTINUES TO BE PLAGUED WITH RETRACTIONS, APOLOGIES RELATED TO ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
"The BBC has a duty to uphold fairness, accuracy, and truth — it's one of the world's largest media organizations – yet it is failing. Its repeated claims that it takes antisemitism seriously have become meaningless. Enough words. What is needed now is decisive, meaningful action," Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharren Haskel posted on X.
This is not the first time that the BBC has had to issue an apology regarding its coverage of Israel in the context of its current war with Hamas after the October 7 attacks.
The BBC was one of several news organizations that rushed to report false claims made by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry that Israel had bombed the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, resulting in 500 civilian casualties, shortly after the terrorist attack.
In November 2023, the BBC apologized after misquoting a Reuters report and distorting a quote by an IDF spokesman claiming the IDF was "targeting people including medical teams as well as Arab speakers" in Gaza's Al Shifa hospital. The IDF spokesman had actually said that Arab-speaking soldiers were on the ground to ensure aid made its way to the hospital.
The BBC apologized for reporting unproven claims about Israel carrying out "summary executions" of Gaza civilians in January 2024.
In February 2025, the BBC apologized after its anchor Nicky Schiller referred to Israeli hostages as "prisoners" on air.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
The BBC once again issued an apology in March 2025 after contacting the Israeli embassy and requesting a guest who would be "critical of Netanyahu," calling the incident a "serious mistake."
Most recently, the BBC apologized after airing Bob Vylan's performance at Glastonbury, in which the punk rocker called for "death to the IDF."
"We deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to apologise to our viewers and listeners and in particular the Jewish community. We are also unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at, or on, the BBC," the BBC said in a statement.
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