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An impartiality controversy has erupted after BBC journalists appeared to justify the killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas.
An “urgent investigation” has been launched by the corporation after several of their journalists in the Middle East celebrated the attack on social media.
BBC News Arabic journalists were said to have supported the comments comparing Hamas to freedom fighters.
Another comment described the October 7 massacre as a “dawn of hope.”
NOW WATCH: BBC faces criticism for refusing to call Hamas ‘terrorists’
A senior journalist was mocking the Israeli relatives of a grandmother who was kidnapped by Hamas.
Another posted that “Israel’s reputation is crying in the corner”.
A number of complaints have also been lodged against BBC Arabic – which is funded by the license fee – accusing it of bias and inaccuracy.
The allegations included referring to towns inside Israel’s internationally recognized territory as “settlements” and their residents as “settlers”, rather than the disputed areas of the West Bank.
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BBC output is required to achieve “reasonable impartiality” and its news journalists also have a “special responsibility” to maintain the principle on social media, according to its guidelines.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: “Language matters and it is vital that media coverage of the heartbreaking events in Israel and Gaza is handled with utmost care by all journalists, especially our own. “It should be done with sensitivity and impartiality.” “Public Service Broadcaster.”
The BBC has recently faced criticism for refusing to call Hamas a “terrorist” rather than a “terrorist group”.
Last week, a number of BBC journalists questioned Hamas’s recruitment of Israeli non-combatants as civilians, despite evidence emerging of indiscriminate slaughter of women, children and the elderly.
Mahmoud Shelib, senior BBC News broadcast journalist, suggested that the young Israelis were effectively fighters.
The BBC has recently faced criticism for refusing to call Hamas a ‘terrorist’ rather than a ‘terrorist group’.
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He wrote: “[I see] In front of me on Al Jazeera, their so-called citizens are standing armed with police and shooting because they basically have no citizens among the youth.
“This is what ignorant people often don’t know. I’m all for fighting them with love, yes, that’s the solution,” he wrote before posting a laughing emoji.
Aya Hossam, who describes herself as a broadcast journalist at BBC Arabic, liked a tweet that said: “Every member of the Zionist entity served in the army at some point in their lives, whether men or Or women, and they were all victims of clear violations… The term “civilians” applies to animals and pets living there and they are not seriously culpable.
BBC Arabic correspondent Sally Nabil also liked the comment on the video which showed footage of jeeps laden with bodies and abducted civilians. The comment said: “A glorious scene captured by me.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We are investigating this matter urgently. “We take allegations of violations of our editorial and social media guidelines extremely seriously, and we will take action, including disciplinary action, if we find violations.”
