The last two paragraphs of a report published on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page on the evening of August 30th – ‘Palestinian President Abbas holds rare talks with Israeli minister’ – read as follows:
(Interestingly, the Arabic language version of that article does not include those paragraphs.)
Until the appearance of those two sentences, throughout the nine days between August 21st and August 30th BBC audiences had seen no reporting whatsoever on the Hamas-instigated violence along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The BBC failed to produce any reporting in English on the renewal of violent rioting on August 21st during which the soldier it fails to name – St.-Sgt. Barel Hadaria Shmueli – was critically wounded by a gunshot to his head and reports that the shooter (apparently a Hamas operative) turned himself in to Hamas.
“Gaza factions had organized the Saturday protest in al-Malika Refugee Camp near the border with Israel as a part of a series of activities to pressure Israel, announcing its plans on Wednesday. […]
“Our mobilizing masses have come to announce that the path of the Sword of Jerusalem is renewed,” said senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, using the terror group’s name for the May fighting between Israel and Hamas. Al-Hayya serves as the group’s deputy Gaza chief. […]
The demonstration took place despite a Thursday agreement that would return millions in Qatari subsidies to the Gaza Strip via the United Nations. The agreement was seen as a significant breakthrough in attempts to strengthen the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.”
BBC audiences were also not informed that two days later, arson attacks using balloons launched from the Gaza Strip caused at least nine fires in the Western Negev or that relatedly, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing for four days last week (although coverage of that latter story did appear in Arabic).
Further rioting at the border on August 25th was known to the BBC Jerusalem bureau’s Tom Bateman but it – and the fact that an Israeli soldier had been seriously wounded four days earlier – got only a brief mention on his Twitter feed.
Additional violent border riots on August 28th, further arson attacks and the renewal of the activities of the so-called “night confusion units” also did not receive any BBC coverage.
Against the backdrop of those significant omissions in BBC reporting, the insert at the bottom of this August 30th article on an entirely different topic fails to clarify to BBC audiences that the “32-year-old man” it reports “died…last week” was (as Bateman knows) a member of Hamas’ al Qassam Brigades. Osama Dueij was mourned by the terrorist organisation which posted pictures of him in military uniform.
As noted by the FDD’s Joe Truzman, on the day he was shot Dueij had been filmed (without his uniform) holding a hand grenade while participating in the violent rioting at the border on August 21st.
CAMERA UK has made a complaint to the BBC regarding that serious omission.
Related Articles:
OSAMA DUEIJ’S DEATH IS NEWS; HIS HAMAS AFFILIATION LESS SO (CAMERA)
Strange how the BBC fail to report that the incendiary balloons from Gaza, filled with helium are derived from the helium supplied by Israel who import it from the USA.
See https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/308176