UK report challenges BBC claim, reveals ‘journalists’ killed during war had Hamas ties

BBC reviewing Gaza casualty reporting after 53 fatalities listed as “journalists” were tied to terror groups.

By World Israel News Staff

The BBC is reviewing its reporting on journalists killed during the Gaza war after an investigation found that 53 Gazans it had identified as journalists or media workers had documented links of varying degrees to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other terrorist organizations.

The findings, presented by The Telegraph, raise new questions over how casualty lists from Gaza were verified during a war in which access for foreign reporters was severely restricted and information about the identities and activities of those killed was often difficult to independently confirm.

The 53 were among roughly 180 people identified as journalists or media workers in BBC Arabic reporting during the war.

Ten were also identified as journalists in English-language BBC coverage, while the other 43 appeared only in the corporation’s Arabic-language reporting.

Some of those identified as journalists were later found to have participated directly in fighting, while others appeared in photographs or videos wearing military uniforms, carrying weapons or displaying insignia associated with Hamas and other armed groups.

In another group of cases, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other terrorist organizations issued memorial notices describing those killed as members, fighters or “martyrs.”

The findings do not establish that all 53 were combatants. Affiliation with a political organization, employment by an affiliated media outlet or appearance in a memorial notice is also distinct from evidence that an individual personally participated in hostilities.

But several cases have since resulted in individuals being removed from independent databases of journalists killed during the war after additional evidence emerged.

Among them was Abdullah Darwish, whom the BBC had described as a cameraman for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV.

Darwish was subsequently removed from the Committee to Protect Journalists’ casualty database after research established that he had engaged in combat. Reports examining his background said he participated in the Oct. 7 attack as a member of Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

Another was Yacoup al-Borsh, who had been identified as an executive director at Namaa Radio. Hamas’s military wing later commemorated him among its “martyrs,” and he was among those removed following further examination.

Rizq Abu Shakian, identified in BBC reporting as a journalist for Palestine Now, was also later removed from the journalist casualty database after evidence emerged of combat activity. Video footage cited in the investigation showed him wearing Hamas military clothing and carrying an automatic rifle.

Other names examined had not necessarily been found to have personally engaged in combat but were publicly commemorated by armed organizations.

Among those cited was Mostafa Bakeer, who was described by Hamas as a field commander in its Rafah Brigade, as well as individuals whose deaths were marked in statements issued by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Twenty of the 53 were the subjects of memorial material published by terrorist organizations, while another group appeared in photographs or videos armed or wearing combat clothing, according to the investigation.

One of those cases involved Ahmed Samir Mohamed Washah, who was reportedly filmed training with a grenade launcher.

The BBC said the reporting at issue had last been updated in August 2025 and had been compiled using the information available at the time.

“This report was last updated in August 2025 and covers the deaths of journalists over the course of the conflict, in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel, regardless of their media outlet’s political affiliations,” a BBC spokesman 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.”

The controversy follows a major review by the Committee to Protect Journalists of its own Gaza casualty database.

The organization announced the review in June after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published obituaries identifying as combatants some people who had previously been recorded as journalists.

CPJ said at the time that it had already removed eight people after determining that they had engaged in combat, along with additional names that failed to meet its criteria for journalists or media workers.

The organization completed the broader review this month, removing 22 people from its records, reinstating six and reclassifying 12.

CPJ emphasized that membership in or political sympathy toward an organization does not by itself disqualify someone from being considered a journalist.

“We base the determinations we make solely on whether individuals meet our definitions of who we consider to be a journalist, not an individual’s affiliation or views, nor in response to pressure or intimidation from any government or interest group,” CPJ chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said.

The organization also stressed that its rules exclude people shown to have taken an active role in fighting.

“CPJ condemns in no uncertain terms the misrepresentation of combatants as journalists or media workers — or the misuse of ‘Press’ insignia,” Ginsberg said when the review was announced. “Such actions endanger every single individual journalist legitimately trying to report.”

Former BBC Television director Danny Cohen said the latest findings demonstrated a broader problem with the corporation’s coverage.

“Once again, the BBC finds itself at the centre of a scandal of inaccuracy and anti-Israel bias,” Cohen said. “Given the BBC’s vast journalistic resources, this is simply not good enough.”

He accused the broadcaster of “failing in its duties of balance and accuracy when it comes to their reporting of Israel.”

The latest controversy comes after an earlier dispute over the BBC’s Gaza coverage resulted in formal action by Britain’s broadcasting regulator.

A 2025 documentary, “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” failed to disclose that the father of its 13-year-old narrator held a position in the Hamas-run Gaza administration.

The BBC’s own review found that the omission breached its editorial guidelines on accuracy, and Britain’s broadcasting regulator subsequently ruled that the program had materially misled viewers.

The regulator described the omission as serious enough to potentially undermine audience trust and ordered the BBC to broadcast a statement acknowledging the finding.

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