Counter-terror police 'assessing' BBC's controversial Gaza documentary

28 February 2025, 15:15

Tom Swarbrick speaks to David Mencer | Watch again

Counter-terror police are 'assessing' the BBC's controversial Gaza documentary.

It emerged last week that the Gaza film's child narrator was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas' deputy minister of agriculture.

The BBC said on Thursday that the production company knew the boy’s father was a member of the Hamas government but did not tell them.

The company also paid the boy's mother via his sister's bank account.

Police are now considering whether further action needs to be taken.

A spokesperson for the Met police said on Friday: "We're aware of a BBC documentary about Gaza and we have received a number of reports raising concerns.

"Officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command are currently assessing whether any police action is required in relation to this matter."

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It comes after Sir Keir Starmer said he was "concerned" by the show and that meetings will be taking place over it.

Speaking from the White House on Thursday, the Prime Minister was asked by LBC's Natasha Clarke about the controversial documentary - and whether he was concerned by the BBC's decision making.

He added meetings were scheduled between the government and the BBC and that he was "concerned about the programme in question".

Hours earlier, the corporation had apologised for the error, saying sorry for "serious flaws" in the making of the show.

The BBC said some flaws were made by the production company and others were made by itself - but all were "unacceptable".

The documentary will not be broadcast again in its current form or return to iPlayer, the BBC confirmed.

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"BBC News takes full responsibility for these [flaws] and the impact that these have had on the corporation's reputation," a spokesperson said. "We apologise for this.

"Nothing is more important than the trust that our audiences have in our journalism.

"This incident has damaged that trust. While the intent of the documentary was aligned with our purpose - to tell the story of what is happening around the world, even in the most difficult and dangerous places - the processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations.

"Although the programme was made by an independent production company, who were commissioned to deliver a fully compliant documentary, the BBC has ultimate editorial responsibility for this programme as broadcast."

The BBC director-general has asked for an independent review into the making of the documentary to be expedited.

"Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and reviews, is independent of BBC News and reports directly to the director-general," the spokesperson said.

"He will consider all of the complaints and issues that have been raised.

"He will determine whether any editorial guidelines have been broken; rapidly address the complaints that have been made; and enable the BBC to determine whether any disciplinary action is warranted in relation to shortcomings in the making of this programme.

"This will include issues around the use of language, translation and continuity that have also been raised with the BBC.

"We have no plans to broadcast the programme again in its current form or return it to iPlayer, and will make a further assessment once the work of Peter Johnston is complete."

In a separate statement, the BBC's board said mistakes made in producing the documentary were "significant and damaging to the BBC".

It comes after Israeli military spokesman David Mencer told LBC the BBC has serious questions to answer for airing the programme after it emerged one of the cameramen celebrated the October 7 terror attacks and that it featured the grandson of a senior Hamas figure.

He told Tom Swarbrick: "How is it possible [for] the BBC [to] pick children with Hamas ties? For heavens sake, the son of a Hamas minister, a Hamas founder.

"Did the BBC tell the viewers it was going to happen or did they conveniently leave it out? Why did the BBC use cameramen with alleged Hamas links?

'How is it possible that the BBC now are effectively a mouthpiece for a terrorist organisation which your own government considers as terrorists?"

Following the discovery about Abdullah Al-Yazouri, who speaks about what life is like in the territory amid the war between Israel and Hamas, the BBC later added a disclaimer to the programme and has since removed the film from its online catch-up service.

Mr Mencer has claimed that setting this programme aside, the BBC is still "constantly trying to divert the narrative to a narrative that is favourable to Hamas".

Currently, no BBC journalists, and indeed no foreign journalists, are allowed into Gaza.

When asked why Israel won't allow reporters in, Mr Mencer said: "The reality is, Hamas control almost everything which comes out of Gaza."

He added that Israel's priority is getting the remaining hostages out of Gaza rather than letting BBC journalists in, saying Hamas are a "genocidal organisation that are against free press".

Instead, the BBC decided to feature "important stories we think should be told – those of the experiences of children in Gaza" for the film, the organisation said in a statement.

Demonstrators protested the programme outside the BBC offices on Tuesday night, saying it was "a betrayal of licence fee payers”.

The BBC initially kept the documentary online with an added disclaimer before removing it from iPlayer while conducting further ‘due diligence’.

It is co-directed by Jamie Roberts, an Emmy-award-winning filmmaker, and Yousef Hammash, a Bafta-award-winning Palestinian journalist.

It was filmed by two cameramen which Mr Rawagh hired as an “additional camera.”Mr Rawagh’s tweets were uncovered by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera).

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, told LBC News earlier: “There are children in Gaza who've appeared on a film.

"One of them is the son of a high ranking Hamas official. And how on earth can the BBC possibly already be sure that no money has gone over there?

"It just doesn't make sense, you know, why on earth would somebody pay £400,000 for this thing? "And what are we supposed to believe, that none of the people who appeared in the film are actually being paid for it? It just, it just sort of beggars belief.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she had discussed the documentary with Tim Davie in which she expressed her "deep concern" about the issues surrounding the film.

She added: "It is paramount that the investigation the BBC is conducting sheds light on what happened and who knew what when. I expect to be kept informed of the outcome of their investigation."

The BBC said in a statement: “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone features important stories we think should be told – those of the experiences of children in Gaza. There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in the light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company. The programme will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place.”