Israel makes official complaint as pressure mounts on BBC to address Gaza documentary row

19 February 2025, 18:51 | Updated: 19 February 2025, 19:02

Israel’s ambassador to the UK has sent an official complaint to BBC bosses asking how a child with alleged family ties to Hamas was allowed to be the focus of a documentary about the lives of ordinary Palestinians.

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 raw and often graphic documentary featured multiple accounts of the conflict, with the hour-long film showing the devastation of Gaza through the eyes of three young Palestinian children in the region.

Investigative journalist David Collier has claimed that one of the child narrators featured in the documentary, 14-year-old Abdullah, is in fact the son of a Hamas government minister and grandson of one of Hamas' founders.

Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely said she has written to Director General of the BBC Tim Davie seeking answers over the ‘BBC’s choice of cameraman as well as the main protagonist of the documentary’

She posted online: “Following the release of the BBC Two documentary on Gaza, I have sent an official letter to the Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie.

“I asked for clarification on the BBC’s choice of cameraman as well as the main protagonist of the documentary, given the BBC’s supposed commitment to impartiality.

“I await his response.”

A group of nearly 50 Jewish journalists and members of the media have also signed a letter to the BBC raising serious concerns about the programme and asking similar questions about its production.

They are demanding more details about the making of the film and have questioned whether it violated Ofcom rules.

They also want to know whether any members of Hamas were paid in connection with the film, whether the film required Hamas’ permission to be made and, if so, why this was not disclosed to audiences.

One of the signatories of the letter, actress Tracy Ann Oberman, told LBC: “Yet again the BBC has major questions asked about its impartiality and its sources.”

The letter states: "Given the serious nature of these concerns, the BBC should immediately postpone any broadcast repeats of the programme, remove it from iPlayer and take down any social media clips of the programme until an independent investigation is carried out and its findings published with full transparency for licence-fee payers.

"Can the BBC confirm it will take this action?"

They have raised concerns about the "editorial standards of this programme and the BBC's compliance with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, its own Editorial Guidelines and English law", and asked for the corporation to answer questions about the documentary.

They said: "Was it known to the BBC that the narrator and principal contributor of the documentary, Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is the son of a senior leader of the proscribed terrorist group, Hamas?

"If the BBC was aware that Abdullah Al-Yazouri was the son of a terrorist leader, why was this not disclosed to audiences during the programme?

"If the BBC was not aware that Abdullah Al-Yazouri is the son of a terrorist leader, what diligence checks were undertaken and why did they fail?"

The News Agents host Jon Sopel also said the cooperation has "serious questions to answer" as he called for a "health warning" to be put on the film.

Why is the BBC being accused of making a 'Hamas propaganda film'? Jon Sopel explains

Mr Sopel said: “News organisations are not allowed into Gaza, so it has been a nightmare for journalists to get stories out there.

“So they found these kids, full editorial control, producers based in London, with local camera crews.

“But the claim is … the son of Hamas deputy minister of agriculture was one of the kids featured in the documentary and the question is, did the BBC know this and if not why didn’t they?

“So the BBC is facing allegations of just being a Hamas mouthpiece.

“I spoke to someone very senior at BBC News and he said ‘It’s current affairs, mate.’

“There is BBC News and a whole different department that might as well be another planet called current affairs."

He added: "Of course, the producers were hamstrung by the fact they didn’t have access to Gaza, but apparently, the person who found out about the Hamas link was someone who just googled it.

"If the producers haven’t done that, they have some pretty serious questions to answer."

The BBC has since defended the film, admitting the organisation had "full editorial control" despite stating it had no journalistic input given the ban on international reporters in the war zone.

It added the two documentary makers behind the film were both based in London.

Speaking with LBC on Wednesday, Danny Cohen, former Director of BBC Television, told Nick Ferrari the BBC broadcast a clearly "bias" documentary.

"At an absolute minimum, audiences, license fee payers, should be aware that the son of a Hamas leader is in it," he told Nick.

"It looks, by the way Nick, [as though] the same child appeared in a Channel 4 story a few weeks ago.

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"He was accompanied by a man that appears to be his father - who is clearly his father."

He also called for “full transparency” over the way in which the organisation conducts its journalism.

A graphic depiction of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, the documentary makers behind the project are now facing criticism over their featured subjects.

The English speaking boy is listed in the film’s credits under his full name, Abdullah Al-Yazouri.

Mr Collier used Facebook and other publicly available data to identify Abdullah, claiming he is the son of Gaza's deputy minister of agriculture, Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri.

Responding to the claims, a BBC spokesman said: “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, a documentary showing the conflict through the eyes of three children in Gaza, was produced in line with BBC editorial guidelines and the BBC had full editorial control.

“The film told the children’s own stories, showing viewers their direct experiences of living through a war, and the children’s parents did not have any editorial input.

"As the BBC has previously explained, the film was edited and directed from London, as independent international journalists are not allowed into Gaza. 

It added: "The film gives audiences a rare glimpse of Gaza during the war, as well as an insight into the children's lives, it hears the voices of other Gazan civilians, several of whom voice anti-Hamas sentiments."

Writing on his blog, Mr Collier dissected the documentary, explaining: "The naivety, stupidity and arrogance of our media has long been apparent. 

"It has allowed Palestinian propagandists to turn our legacy channels into foolish outlets blindly spouting Hamas lies 24/7."

Later posts on X saw Mr Collier add: “The two photographers followed these children around for months. They absolutely knew who he was. Did either of the producers?

“How did the BBC let a son of a Hamas minister walk around looking for sympathy and demonising Israel for an hour in a BBC documentary?”

He also claims that one of the documentary's cameramen, Amjad Al Fayoumi, posted the phrase "the flood" with a saluting emoji to social media on October 7, 2023.

Mr Collier suggests this was a seeming endorsement of the attack.

A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism added: "If these allegations are true then the BBC has essentially published long-form propaganda for an antisemitic genocidal terror organisation with licence-fee funds."