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LONDON: A BBC documentary about children’s lives in Gaza narrated by the 13-year-old son of a Hamas official breached its editorial guidelines on accuracy, an internal review by the British public broadcaster said on Monday.
The investigation, however, found there were no other breaches of the BBC’s editorial guidelines, including on impartiality, and no evidence that outside interests “inappropriately impacted on the program.”
The BBC removed “Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone” from its online platform in February, five days after it was broadcast, saying it had “serious flaws.” The documentary was made by independent production company HOYO Films.
A review found the program breached a guideline on accuracy that deals with misleading audiences.
The background on the narrator’s father — a minister in the Hamas-run government in Gaza — was “critical information,” which was not shared with the BBC before broadcast, the review found.
Gaza’s health ministry says more than 58,000 people have been killed since the start of the war on Oct. 7 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza.
The BBC’s coverage of the war has been heavily scrutinized throughout the conflict, with both supporters of Israel and its critics saying the broadcaster had failed to strike the right balance.
“Regardless of how the significance or otherwise of the Narrator’s father’s position was judged, the audience should have been informed about this,” said the report by Peter Johnston, BBC Director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the report identified a significant failing in relation to accuracy.
“We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated,” Davie said in a statement.

LONDON: An Israeli court on Thursday extended the detention of journalist Israel Frey over a post on X that hailed “the world is a better place” following the death of five soldiers in an explosion in Gaza.

Frey, who frequently posts his criticism of the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza, is being held in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court over charges of inciting and supporting terrorism.

“The world is better this morning without five young people who participated in one of the cruelest crimes against humanity,” the Israeli journalist said, referring to five Israeli soldiers who were killed by an explosive device during their fight with the militant group Hamas in northern Gaza earlier this week.

He added: “Sadly, for the boy in Gaza now being operated on without anesthesia, the girl starving to death and the family huddling in a tent under bombardment — this is not enough.

“This is a call to every Israeli mother: Do not be the next to receive your son in a coffin as a war criminal. Refuse.”

Frey was previously questioned over his critical posts in the past. In March, he was interrogated on suspicion of inciting terrorism over several pro-Palestinian posts.

“A Palestinian who hurts an IDF soldier or a settler in the apartheid territories is not a terrorist. And it’s not a terror attack. He’s a hero fighting against an occupier for justice, liberation and freedom,” he once wrote.

In December 2022, he was questioned over posts in which he said that “targeting security forces is not terrorism” and called a Palestinian who was planning an attack a “hero.”

Frey fled into hiding on Oct. 16, 2023, about a week into the Gaza war, after his home was attacked by a far-right Israeli mob when he expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

On Thursday, he told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he will not be “bowing his head” to his persecution, adding that “we have already caused enough suffering, blood and tears. Liberate Gaza. Enough.”

According to Israeli media reports, Judge Ravit Peleg Bar Dayan ruled that Frey’s remarks “offend public sensibilities and are deeply disturbing,” asking, “How can the deaths of young soldiers, who fell in the line of duty defending their homeland, possibly be considered good?”

She added that extending Frey’s detention was necessary due to “investigative actions susceptible to obstruction,” as she denied bail to Frey.

In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Frey’s arrest and said his detention “underscores authorities’ growing intolerance of freedom of expression since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.”

CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah called for Frey’s immediate release along with “all detained Palestinian journalists” and for an end to the “ongoing crackdown on the press and dissenting voices.”