BBC reviews Gaza ‘journalists’ after terror links claims
Broadcaster examines its coverage after investigation alleges 53 people it called journalists had links to Hamas and other terror groups
The BBC is reviewing its reporting on journalists killed in Gaza after an investigation alleged that dozens of people it described as media workers had links to Hamas and other terrorist organisations.
The Telegraph identified 53 people referred to as journalists in BBC coverage who it said had links to proscribed groups, with some allegedly involved in fighting and others pictured carrying weapons or wearing military clothing.
Most appeared in BBC Arabic coverage, while ten were also described as journalists by the BBC’s English-language service, according to the newspaper.
The scrutiny follows a review by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which removed a number of people from its database after concluding they had either participated in combat or did not qualify as journalists or media workers.
Among those highlighted by The Telegraph was Abdullah Darwish, whom BBC Arabic described as a cameraman for Al-Aqsa TV.
The newspaper reported that Darwish was a member of Hamas’s armed wing and took part in the 7 October attacks. He was subsequently removed from CPJ’s database.
Another man, Rizq Abu Shakian, was described by the BBC as a journalist for Palestine Now but appeared in footage wearing Hamas military clothing and carrying a rifle, according to the investigation.
The Telegraph also reported that terrorist organisations had published obituaries for 20 of the people it identified, while others appeared in online images with weapons or military clothing.
Former BBC television director Danny Cohen described the findings to the newspaper as a “scandal of inaccuracy and anti-Israel bias”.
The BBC said the Arabic-language report at the centre of the controversy was last updated in August 2025 and covered journalists killed in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel.
A spokesperson said: “The story was based on the information available at the time it was published. In light of the CPJ’s June 2026 update, we are looking at those included in the piece and in our wider reporting as relevant.”
CAMERA UK, the pro-Israel media monitoring organisation which has previously investigated BBC Arabic’s coverage, accused the broadcaster of repeatedly failing to disclose evidence linking people described as Gazan civilians to terrorist groups.
A spokesperson told Jewish News: “For years, our research has demonstrated the service’s wide-ranging bias. The omission of evidence suggesting that Gazan ‘civilians’ actually had links to terror groups, of which this case is just one example, is among its most egregious patterns.”
The group also criticised the BBC’s reference to the individuals’ “political affiliations”, saying: “In view of the BBC’s recent calls for a permanent charter – effectively seeking to rid itself of the last remnants of public accountability to which it is still bound – the way its Arabic service continues to whitewash such individuals, as though this is just a matter of their ‘political affiliations’, is particularly jarring.”
The latest row places renewed scrutiny on BBC Arabic, which has faced repeated criticism over its coverage of Israel and the Gaza war.