On April 28th the BBC News website published a report by the corporation’s Hague correspondent Anna Holligan relating to the first day of public hearings on a request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice.
The current version of that report titled “UN’s top court begins hearings on Israel’s legal duties towards Palestinians” begins by telling readers that:
“The UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has begun hearings for an opinion on Israel’s legal duty to allow aid to Palestinians and to co-operate with the UN’s Palestinian aid agency, Unrwa – both of which Israel has barred in Gaza. […]
Last year Israel severed ties with Unrwa, accusing it of colluding with Hamas.”
Holligan’s choice of wording could well lead readers to believe that Israel “has barred” UNRWA “in Gaza”. However, as was noted by Israel’s Supreme Court in a January 2025 ruling on a petition against the legislation passed in 2024, it “prohibits UNRWA activity only on the sovereign territory of the State of Israel,” but “does not prohibit such activity in the areas of Judea-Samaria and the Gaza Strip” – albeit without Israel’s involvement.
Later in her report, Holligan tells BBC audiences that:
“Israel won’t be among the 39 countries speaking at the ICJ this week, but has provided a 37-page written submission to the court, in which it outlines the ways in which it claims Unrwa has been infiltrated by Hamas and argues that Israel is entitled to end cooperation with the organisation for the sake of its own security.”
And:
“At issue are two bills passed by Israel’s parliament in October that declared Unrwa harboured terrorists, and ordered the government to end all co-operation and contact with the organisation, including the supply of visas to Unrwa international employees.
Unrwa has challenged Israel’s allegation that it knowingly has Hamas members in its ranks, or that it co-operated with the armed group.”
That link takes readers to a previously discussed January 2025 report by Yolande Knell which includes the following:
“Israel has long accused Unrwa of perpetuating conflict by keeping alive Palestinian hopes of returning to their historic homeland.
However, tensions have risen dramatically since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the war they triggered.
A year ago, Israel accused 18 Unrwa employees of taking part in the deadly assault. A UN investigation then found that nine employees may have been involved and the agency fired them. UN officials reject most of Israel’s accusations against it and insist Unrwa is impartial.
Many international donors, including the UK and the European Union, have since resumed donations to the agency.”
BBC coverage of the story concerning the participation of UNRWA employees in the October 7th massacre and subsequent funding suspensions has included the following:
BBC NEWS REPORT ON UNRWA SCANDAL QUOTES FORMER BBC AND UNRWA STAFFER
BBC NEWS WEBSITE COVERAGE OF UNRWA FUNDING SUSPENSIONS
BBC NEWS UNCRITICALLY AMPLIFIES UN STATEMENTS ON UN AGENCY
On at least two occasions BBC audiences have been misled audiences on the topic of a UN report on UNRWA which was published in April 2024:
BBC NEWS FRAMING OF A STRIKE ON TERRORISTS USING HUMAN SHIELDS
BBC PLATFORMING OF UNRWA TALKING POINTS AND ALLEGATIONS
As we see, for well over a year the BBC – including its BBC Verify department – has refrained from conducting any meaningful independent investigation into the topic of the participation of UNRWA employees in the October 7th massacre or the wider issue of UNRWA connections to proscribed terrorist organisations, opting instead to blandly amplify that UN agency’s denials and claims.
An Israeli government report dated April 23rd 2025 provides declassified intelligence concerning The Connection between UNRWA and Hamas in Gaza.
“At least 1,462 UNRWA employees in Gaza are members of Hamas, PIJ, or similar organizations—comprising nearly 12% of the agency’s workforce in Gaza were verified up to this point,
Of these:
– 1,157 are employed in the education system.
– 80 school principals and deputy principals are members of terrorist groups, including 16 from Hamas’ military wing.
– Additional operatives were found in engineering, health, logistics, and administration.
These figures are based on cross-referencing UNRWA’s official staff lists with Hamas’ own personnel records—including internal recruitment databases, military training rosters, and administrative files—matched through national ID numbers.”
Given Holligan’s promotion of the statement “Unrwa has challenged Israel’s allegation that it knowingly has Hamas members in its ranks”, it is particularly interesting to see that in some cases, Israel had informed UNRWA of the terror connections of employees long before the current war began.
Clearly it is past time for the BBC to change its longstanding editorial policy of uncritical amplification of UN and UNRWA statements and to begin providing its audiences with accurate and impartial coverage of stories concerning issues relating to that UN agency.
Related Articles:
BBC NEWS DOWNPLAYS HAMAS-UNRWA SYMBIOSIS YET AGAIN
WHAT WERE BBC AUDIENCES TOLD ABOUT THE HAMAS FACILITY UNDER UNRWA’S HQ?
But BBC unlike the UK government has a policy that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. High time the Government of Israel declared BBC and its staff Persona non Grata
Totally agree Sid, the BBC are part and parcel of the Islamist set up, it is time to close their anti-British anti-Israel antisemitic newsroom. People are becoming wise to their methods of deception, yet British citizens are still forced to pay this ridiculous license fee. Scrap it and make it subscription only and I guarantee that even with Qatari and Iranian money it will not last beyond one decade. #defundthebbc