A BBC documentary about Gaza has been pulled from BBC iPlayer while the corporation conducts ‘further due diligence’.
It comes after the broadcaster admitted a child featured was the son of a man who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.
The documentary, Gaza, aired on BBC Two and is narrated by 13-year-old Abdullah Al-Yazouri, who describes life in Gaza during the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Following an investigation by investigative journalist David Collier it later emerged that the child is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.
A statement from the BBC said: ‘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.’
Collier’s investigation cross-referenced social media profiles and other publicly available information.
The Facebook profile of Ayman Eliyazouri shows him posting about his son Abdullah, who he calls Aboud.
The documentary, Gaza, aired on BBC Two and is narrated by 13-year-old Abdullah Al-Yazouri (pictured), who describes life in Gaza during the conflict between Israel and Hamas
The documentary has been pulled from BBC iPlayer while the corporation conducts ‘further due diligence’
The BBC has since apologised ‘for the omission of that detail from the original film’ and has edited the text attached to the documentary.
Former BBC chief, Danny Cohen, described the documentary as a ‘shocking failure by the BBC’ and thinks it will be a ‘a major crisis for its reputation.’
He said: ‘This documentary fails the most basic of programme standards.
‘Links to the terrorist group Hamas were not disclosed, it appears that children have been manipulated by terrorists, a member of the production team celebrated the 7 October Hamas massacre and it now also appears that the documentary has been misleadingly edited.
‘This is a shocking failure by the BBC and a major crisis for its reputation.
‘The BBC’s commitment to impartiality on the Israel-Hamas war lies in tatters. The BBC’s senior leadership needs to wake up now and admit the corporation has a serious problem.’
A group including producer Neil Blair, former BBC One controller Danny Cohen, and producer Leo Pearlman have written to the broadcasted asking for the programme to be pulled and requesting information about due diligence and duty of care.
In their letter to the BBC, the group asked if the BBC was aware that the narrator and ‘principal contributor’ of the film is the son of a ‘senior leader’ of the terrorist group.
They also questioned if the corporation was granted permission by Hamas to make the film.
Speaking to LBC Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, said: ‘I watched it last night. It’s something that I will be discussing with them, particularly around the way in which they sourced the people who were featured in the programme.’
She added: ‘These things are difficult and I do want to acknowledge that for the BBC, they take more care than most broadcasters in terms of the way that they try to portray these things.’
This is a breaking news story, more to follow.
