The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was accused of downplaying the Hamas terrorist organization's harsh treatment of Israeli hostages, according to a Sunday report by The Telegraph.
The Arabic branch of the British public service broadcaster was forced to edit a video clip of the "shadow unit" of the terror group's Al-Qassam Brigades, the report said. The "shadow unit" was described in the video clip as "guarding the kidnapped female Israeli hostages," who were also seen "thanking" their captors, the video described.
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) accused the BBC of spreading propaganda in a 33-page report, citing the incident.
The Telegraph cited a translation done by CAMERA of the BBC's Arabic branch, where it said that the Al-Qassam Brigades's "mission is to secure the hostages and hide them from view in Gaza." After a complaint made by CAMERA, BBC Arabic updated their report and removed the section claiming the hostages were treated well, The Telegraph added.
“This is a jaw-dropping piece of propaganda – a puff piece on war criminals who have executed, starved, beaten and sexually assaulted the hostages that Hamas kidnapped on October 7,” The Telegraph quoted former BBC Television Director Danny Cohen as saying. "The shadow unit are not ‘guards’ tasked with keeping hostages safe; they are monstrous terrorists who have committed unspeakable crimes." Cohen then said that the Arabic branch of the BBC spreads "antisemitic poison funded by taxpayers."
The report also quoted CAMERA's Hadar Sela, who stated that Hamas's "shadow unit" in question was complicit in the kidnapping, starvation, torture, and sexual violence against the hostages.
Not the first time BBC has misreported on Hamas terrorism
The report about the BBC came nearly a month after the public broadcaster was previously under fire for a documentary they aired featuring a narrator with familial ties to Hamas, and viewers were not informed of such ties in the film.
The narrator, 13-year-old Abdullah al-Yazouri, is allegedly related to a senior Hamas official. The discovery of the ties was made by researcher David Collier, who also said that the BBC was given £400,000 to make the film.
The incident led to pro-Israel activists, which included NGOs such as Campaign Against Antisemitism, protesting outside the BBC headquarters late last month.
The UK's Conservative Party then demanded an investigation be opened that the BBC possibly colluded with Hamas officials to produce the documentary, titled Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone.
It was reported only days later that the documentary included mistranslations of the words "Jews" and "jihad," with the former word being mistranslated to "Israel" or "Israeli forces." It was only the following day that the BBC apologized for its mistakes in the documentary. It was revealed that Hoyo Films, the production company behind the film, paid "a limited sum of money" to the wife of a Hamas official for narrating the film via another family member's bank account.
Michael Starr and Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.