This past week has seen extensive BBC News website reporting on the topic of the return of evacuated residents to the northern part of the Gaza Strip following a delay caused by Hamas’ failure to comply with the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Much of that BBC reporting includes context-free portrayals of “ruined homes” and “destruction”.
“Huge crowds await return to north Gaza after delays” Rushdi Abualouf, 25/1/25
“He wants to return to Jabalia to see his sons and bury the dead.
“I expect to see destruction,” he said.
“People are saying that with the level of destruction, there are no landmarks remaining. I want to see this with my own eyes.””
“Palestinians begin return to north Gaza as deal reached to free six hostages” Ian Aikman, 26/1/25
Live page 27/1/25
“Palestinians return to north Gaza on foot, with belongings in hand” 27/1/25
“Much of northern Gaza is now in ruins after Israeli bombardments.”
“US and Egyptian contractors screening vehicles at Gaza checkpoint” David Gritten, 27/1/25
“‘My home is no longer there’: Palestinians return to north Gaza” Alice Cuddy & Rushdi Abualouf, 27/1/25
“Moments after returning to her home in an affluent neighbourhood in northern Gaza, 44-year-old Sabrine Zanoun said she was overwhelmed with the mix of emotions.
“We are happy to see our family again… [but] it is also so sad it makes you cry – the destroyed houses, the rubble,” she told the BBC.
“People would come here just to walk because of the beautiful scenery. Now it’s mostly ruins.””
“‘A long, long road ahead’: Gaza rebuilds from zero” Paul Adams, 27/1/25
“Some of the areas left behind were obliterated, while others have just about survived.
The UN estimates that around 70% of the Gaza Strip’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed since October 2023, with much of the worst destruction in the north.
Jabaliya, home to a pre-war population of 200,000, about half of whom lived in one of Gaza’s oldest and biggest refugee camps, has been virtually destroyed.
It is clear that for many people, the days of living in a tent are far from over.”
“‘Half our house is gone’: Palestinians face worst fears in north Gaza” Alice Cuddy, 28/1/25
“Adham Bartawi had hoped for the best when he set off back to his family home in the north of Gaza after more than a year – but he was shocked at what he found.
“Half our house is gone,” the 31-year-old told the BBC from the ruins of where he used to live in the northern city of al-Zahra.
“It looks like it was bulldozed – the living room is gone, the kitchen is gone, most of it is gone. The only thing remaining is two rooms and one bathroom… If I leave now they might be looted,” he said.”
“Drone footage shows devastation in Gaza’s Jabalia and Beit Hanoun” 29/1/25
“The UN says almost 70% buildings across Gaza have been destroyed or badly damaged by Israeli bombardment, and that in most cases the displaced have no physical homes to return to in the north.”
Remarkably, BBC audiences are provided with no information whatsoever concerning the terrorist infrastructure and activity in locations such as al-Zahra, Tel al Hawa or Jabalia which is the context to the stories told in those reports.
Two months earlier, the BBC had covered another ceasefire – the one between Israel and the Hizballah terrorist organisation. Reporting on damaged or destroyed buildings in northern Israel appeared in just two articles and one live page entry by Lucy Williamson who visited Kibbutz Menara and Kiryat Shmona.
Live Page, 27/11/24
“Israelis survey damage and mull return to north as ceasefire begins” Lucy Williamson, 28/11/24
“Three quarters of the buildings in Menara have been destroyed in almost 14 months of fighting, along with the electricity, sewage and gas supplies.
The roof of the communal kitchen, caved in from a direct hit, lies tangled in hills of concrete and metal on the floor.
In house after house, the tell-tale tattoos of shrapnel damage, and rough-edged holes from anti-tank missiles have left homes burned out and unsafe.
Through the burned-out windows, the many shattered houses of their Lebanese neighbours are also visible.”
“Ceasefire largely holds but Israelis near Lebanon border have their doubts” Lucy Williamson, 28/11/24
“All the windows in his block – and those of the buildings 200m around it – are boarded up, after being blown out when a missile landed in the road outside several months ago.
Rockets and missiles landed here several times a day – sometimes several times an hour.”
Since then, BBC audiences have seen little if any follow-up reporting on the scale of the damage in towns and rural communities in northern Israel, the fact that it is expected to take years to rehabilitate the affected areas or the fact that many of those who had to evacuate their homes well over a year ago due to Hizballah’s attacks are still displaced.
It is of course distinctly unlikely that in the months ahead BBC audiences will see the same paucity of information concerning damage and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.
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Typical Hamas and Al Jaz reporting direct from the terrorists mouths being promoted by the BBC these days, I do not even watch it anymore, it is the most one sided piece of pro Islamic tripe I have ever known , Sky News are following suit now, they are pitiful examples of the depths of depravity they have to sink to to satisfy their Muslim audience. I am sure they did not show the near lynching of that woman released yesterday after 483 days in captivity having never once spoken to another human being in her own language. The definition of torture is solitary confinement above 14 consecutive days. That woman has been tortured for that length of time. Her captors should face the death penalty