BBC censured for failing to disclose Gaza documentary’s Hamas link

The U.K.'s Office of Communications (Ofcom), the country’s broadcasting watchdog, censured the BBC on Oct. 17 over its documentary “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” calling it “materially misleading.”

“As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be confirmed,” said Ofcom.

The BBC reported that the last time it was sanctioned by Ofcom and ordered it to make an on-air apology was in 2009.

The hour-long documentary film was broadcast on Feb. 17. It follows the conflict through the eyes of three children, and is narrated by Abdullah, 14, who is listed in the film’s credits as Abdullah al-Yazouri.

Abdullah’s father is Ayman Alyazouri, deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run government. The child’s family ties were not revealed to viewers.

“Our investigation found that the program’s failure to disclose that the narrator’s father held a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading,” Ofcom reported.

“It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he provided,” it added.

The BBC said that its director general had apologized earlier for the documentary, saying there had been “a significant failing in relation to accuracy.”

Peter Johnston, director of the BBC’s Editorial Complaints and Reviews department, in a 31-page review of the documentary published on July 14, laid most of the blame on the production company, Hoto Films.

“[Hoto Films] had to bring this information to the BBC’s attention” but did not and is therefore “the party with the most responsibility for this failure,” Johnston wrote.

However, Ofcom said the BBC‘s failure threatened to “erode” the high level of trust audiences would have placed in a BBC program about the Israel-Gaza war.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted to X about Ofcom’s findings on Oct. 17, saying, “Transparency isn’t optional. It’s a fundamental requirement of journalistic ethics.”