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BBC must 'step up' following Gaza documentary says Priti Patel, as she slams ‘reluctance’ to label Hamas 'terrorists'
20 February 2025, 09:25
Priti Patel has said the BBC must "step up" following suggestions a Gaza documentary aired by the broadcaster featured the son of a Hamas leader.
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Speaking with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the former Home Secretary slammed the corporation's "reluctance" to label Hamas a "terrorist organisation" following a review last year - the results of which are yet to be published.
She went on to brand the BBC's refusal to label the group terrorists "absolutely wrong".
The documentary, entitled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, aired on Monday evening and featured multiple accounts of the conflict in Gaza seen through the eyes of Palestinians.
An hour-long film showing the devastation of war, investigative journalist David Collier subsequently claimed one of the child narrators featured was 14-year-old Abdullah - the son of a Hamas government minister.
It saw the corporation forced to issue an apology despite initially defending the film, admitting it had full "editorial control".
Dame Priti Patel on Hamas and the BBC
"I’m the Home Secretary that prescribed Hamas, so I don’t need to add much more to that at all," Dame Patel told Nick on Thursday.
"And I think the BBC has been under a great deal of scrutiny over their reluctance, let’s put it this way. Their reluctance to call Hamas a terrorist organisation - which is exactly what they are."
Read more: Culture Secretary to meet with BBC bosses amid controversy over Gaza documentary
"They need to reflect, on today of all days, when we’re seeing the scenes of the aftermath of October 7 - with bodies being brought home, we’re seeing the full brutality of Hamas - a terrorist organisation that inflicted such brutality on October 7.
She added: "The BBC needs to step up - and we’ll obviously look into this complaint that has been put forward."
It comes as the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy revealed she will be speaking to BBC bosses about a controversial Gaza documentary.
Lisa Nandy will discuss BBC Gaza documentary with them
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Ms Nandy said she wanted to ensure the corporation was not straying into anti-Semitism with its work.
She said she would be raising questions about how the BBC sourced the people featured in the documentary.
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was broadcast on Monday evening, depicting a "vivid and unflinching view of life" in Gaza, according to documentary makers.
The BBC issued an apology on Wednesday night, claiming it “had not been informed” of the connection by the documentary’s producers before it was broadcast.
“We followed all of our usual compliance procedures in the making of this film, but we had not been informed of this information by the independent producers when we complied and then broadcast the finished film,” a spokesman said.
