When a female Palestinian journalist was fatally shot in Jenin in May 2022, the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page published ten items relating to that story in just six days.
When a female Palestinian journalist was fatally shot in Jenin in December 2024, the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page did not publish even one word of reporting on that story.
The party responsible for shooting Shatha al-Sabbagh has not been conclusively identified; the family and Hamas blame Palestinian Authority security forces while the PA blames “outlaws” from local militias. However, that story is part of a broader one which has been completely ignored by BBC journalists for weeks.
As reported by the Israeli media, in December the Palestinian Authority’s security forces began an operation in Jenin, years after losing control of that town and others.
“The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, launched a rare crackdown earlier this month that has sparked one of the worst armed confrontations between Palestinians in years. The PA says it wants to bring law and order to what’s long been a hotbed of terrorism and a place where it has little control. […]
According to PA security forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Anwar Rajab, the raid is meant to impose law and order and restore peace and security. The troops were focused on “eradicating” Iran-backed terror groups that were trying to incite “chaos and anarchy,” he added. The raid will end when those goals are reached, according to the security forces.”
During the PA’s operations – which have prompted Hamas to rally its supporters and allies – both terrorists (including minors) and PA security officers have been killed, as well as civilians. BBC News website audiences did not see any coverage whatsoever of the story, including the related closure of an UNRWA operated clinic, throughout the PA operation’s first weeks.
Following criticism of Al Jazeera’s coverage of the events in Jenin, the Palestinian Authority decided to suspend the Qatari network’s operations on January 1st.
“The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday ordered the temporary suspension of Al Jazeera broadcasts across the West Bank against the backdrop of the Qatari-based network’s critical coverage of Ramallah’s recent crackdown on terror groups in the territory.
“This decision comes in response to Al Jazeera’s insistence on broadcasting inciting content and reports characterized by misinformation, incitement, sedition and interference in Palestinian internal affairs,” the official PA news agency Wafa said.”
On the evening of the following day, the BBC News website published its first report on the story – ‘Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera TV channel in West Bank’ by Yolande Knell. However, BBC audiences learn very little about the events in Jenin from that report, which refers to “the recent major crackdown by Palestinian security forces on armed Islamist groups in Jenin refugee camp where at least 11 people have been killed” and later tells readers that:
“Since early December, its [the PA] forces have been fighting members of the Jenin Battalion, most of whom are affiliated with Islamic Jihad or Hamas, whose 7 October 2023 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza.”
The majority of Knell’s report relates to the PA decision to suspend broadcasting by Al Jazeera but also includes several paragraphs relating to the Israeli government’s decision to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations last year.
“Israel’s parliament voted to close Al Jazeera in Israel last May saying it threatened national security. Israeli police then raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera for broadcasting and some of its equipment was confiscated. The channel’s Arabic staff relocated to the West Bank.
In September, Israeli troops ordered the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah in the West Bank to close for 45 days claiming it was being used to support terrorist activities.
Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have often accused Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for Hamas.
Israel has also accused Al Jazeera staff in Gaza of belonging to the Islamist group. In July, the Israeli military killed Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza City, claiming he was a member of Hamas’ s armed wing. Al Jazeera strongly rejects all the allegations.”
As readers may recall, Knell unquestioningly promoted Al Jazeera talking points concerning Ismail al-Ghoul back in August 2024:
MORE BBC PROMOTION OF AL JAZEERA NARRATIVES AND MESSAGING
The BBC’s under-reporting of internal Palestinian affairs is by no means new but its radio silence on the major incidents of the past weeks in Jenin once again shows that the absence of any Israel related element to events taking place in PA administered areas severely reduces the corporation’s interest in the story. Notably, only after a media organisation which promotes the interests of terrorist organisations became involved was this story deemed newsworthy.
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