'How is the BBC now a mouthpiece for Hamas?', Israel hits out amid Gaza TV show controversy

27 February 2025, 17:57 | Updated: 27 February 2025, 18:39

The BBC has been slammed for acting as a "mouthpiece for Hamas' after airing a TV programme about Gaza featuring a Hamas member's grandson.

Tom Swarbrick speaks to David Mencer | Watch again

Speaking to LBC, Israeli military spokesman David Mencer said 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?"

It comes after the BBC apologised last week after it emerged that Gaza film's child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.

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.”