BBC criticised over 'anti-Israel bias' for calling dead terrorists 'journalists'
Among those included on the BBC Arabic list is Abdullah Darwish who took part in the October 7 attack that led to the current outbreak of conflict
The BBC has been accused of "inaccuracy" and "bias" after it emerged that the broadcaster had referred to several men killed in the Israel-Gaza war as journalists, who had been described by Hamas as martyrs.
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BBC Arabic started publishing a list of all the journalists killed in the conflict when the war began, which is regularly updated and includes more than 180 Palestinians and four Israelis.
It has been revealed that 53 people named on the list have ties to terror organisations.
Ten of these people were also referred to as journalists on the English-language BBC News website or on both English and Arabic sites, however, the remaining 43 appeared only on BBC Arabic, according to the Telegraph.
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It follows the Committee to Protect Journalists removing 22 people included on its own list after it emerged that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published obituaries naming the men as combatants.
Among those included on the BBC Arabic list is Abdullah Darwish, who took part in the October 7 attack that led to the current outbreak of conflict.
BBC Arabic described him as “a cameraman for Al-Aqsa TV”, but it had been found that he had taken part in the attack as part of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades. Photos also showed him wearing the distinctive headband of the brigade.
Yaqoub Al-Barsh, named by BBC Arabic as the executive director of Namaa Radio, was found to have been called a "martyr" by Hamas.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas have published obituaries for 20 of the men named by BBC Arabic, and another 21 have been pictured wearing military fatigues and carrying weapons including a grenade launcher.
Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC television, told the Telegraph: “Once again, the BBC finds itself at the centre of a scandal of inaccuracy and anti-Israel bias. Given the BBC’s vast journalistic resources, this is simply not good enough.”
A BBC spokesperson said: "This BBC Arabic report was last updated in August 2025 and covers the deaths of journalists over the course of the conflict, in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel, regardless of their media outlet’s political affiliations.
"The story was based on the information available at the time it was published. In light of the CPJ’s June 2026 update, we are looking at those included in the piece, and in our wider reporting as relevant."