BBC sent reporter who liked 7 October Hamas posts to cover Trump–Netanyahu summit

The BBC is facing renewed criticism after sending a Middle East-based BBC Arabic correspondent to the United States to report on a high-profile meeting between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, despite her past social media activity linked to posts appearing to justify the Hamas attacks of 7 October.

Sally Nabil, who works for the BBC’s Arabic service, reported live from Washington during the summit last week. Her deployment has prompted questions from Jewish community bodies and media monitors about whether the BBC considered the reputational and ethical implications of assigning her to such coverage, and whether her online history was examined by US authorities before travel.

Nabil was investigated internally by the BBC in 2023 after it emerged she had “liked” multiple posts on X that appeared to praise or legitimise the massacre of Israeli civilians. Among them were posts celebrating 7 October as a moment of “victory” and others applauding the abduction and killing of Israelis by Hamas.

Although the BBC confirmed at the time that it had opened an investigation, no public disciplinary outcome was announced. By early 2024, Nabil and several other staff members examined during the same process had returned to reporting on the war.

Since then, Nabil has travelled to the US on multiple BBC assignments, including reporting from Chicago in early 2024, and, most recently, covering the Trump-Netanyahu meeting held at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

The latest trip has drawn particular concern in light of the Trump administration’s stated position that visa decisions may take applicants’ social media activity into account. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said entry to the US is “a privilege, not a right”, adding that visas can be denied or revoked where individuals are found to support terrorism.

A US State Department spokesperson declined to comment on individual cases but said visa holders are subject to rigorous review when new information emerges.

Jewish communal leaders said the BBC’s decision to deploy Nabil to cover Israel’s prime minister risked further undermining confidence in the corporation’s impartiality.

Ruth Deech, a former BBC governor, questioned the editorial judgment behind the assignment. “Why would the BBC choose someone with a track record of anti-Israel opinions to cover a Netanyahu summit?” she said. “It feels as if the reporting is being set up to present failure and blame on Netanyahu.”

The Jewish Leadership Council said it was “a major concern” that a journalist previously linked to content endorsing 7 October had been placed in such a prominent reporting role. A spokesperson said it was “inconceivable” that the BBC would expect audiences to have confidence in the impartiality of that coverage.

The case was first highlighted by Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), which said the continued use of Nabil illustrated a wider failure of oversight with BBC Arabic. The organisation warned that social media conduct by staff had real-world consequences for the credibility of the BBC’s Middle East journalism.

In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: “We have made it clear that we take allegations of breaches of our social media guidance very seriously and we took urgent action to investigate. We do not comment on individual staff matters; however, if we find breaches, we take the appropriate action.”

Concerns over BBC Arabic have intensified in recent years. Last summer, former editorial adviser Michael Prescott resigned and submitted a dossier criticising the service, with BBC Arabic forming the largest section of his report. The BBC has since said it intends to appoint a new editor to strengthen oversight and has pledged a long-awaited thematic review of its Middle East coverage.

The corporation has also introduced new antisemitism and Islamophobia training for staff. Jewish leaders, however, say the decision to send Nabil to cover a meeting of such sensitivity suggests deeper problems remain unresolved.