In early June we documented the BBC’s extensive reporting of a story that had not actually happened:
BBC PROMOTION OF THE RAFAH INCIDENT THAT WASN’T
Apparently, that episode did not prompt the BBC to exercise more caution concerning its uncritical repetition of claims made by representatives of a health ministry, hospitals and a civil defence unit controlled by the terrorist organisation which started the current war.
Instead, the BBC continued to publish unverified reports about alleged incidents at aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip and the organisation that operates them, with no fewer than twenty-six such items appearing on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page throughout June.
“Red Cross says at least 21 killed and dozens shot in Gaza aid incident” Sebastain Usher and Rushdi Abualouf, 1/6/25
“UN calls for investigation into killings near Gaza aid distribution site” David Gritten, 3/6/25
“Killings near Gaza aid centre will deepen criticism of Israel’s new distribution system” Jeremy Bowen, 3/6/25
“At least 27 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire near aid centre, Gaza authorities say” Tom Bennett, 3/6/25
“IDF says roads to Gaza aid centres are ‘combat zones’ as sites close for day” Sean Seddon, 4/6/25
“What we know about killings near US-Israeli backed Gaza aid site” BBC Verify, 4/6/25
“Gaza now worse than hell on earth, humanitarian chief tells BBC” Jeremy Bowen, 4/6/25
“Six killed by Israeli gunfire near Gaza aid site, Hamas officials say” Barbara Plett Usher and Dearbail Jordan, 7/6/25
“Gaza health workers say four killed by Israeli gunfire near aid centre” Sebastian Usher and André Rhoden-Paul, 8/6/25
“Palestinians say local gunmen and Israeli forces opened fire near Gaza aid site” David Gritten, 10/6/25
“Video shows crowds in Gaza scale fence to rush for aid” 11/6/25
“Video shows crowd of Palestinians climbing fence and rushing to aid site” Tom Bennett, 11/6/25
“Dozens of Palestinians killed while seeking aid in Gaza, hospitals say” David Gritten and Sebastian Usher, 12/6/25
“US-backed aid group says Hamas killed at least eight Palestinian staff in bus attack” Hugo Bachega and James Chater, 12/6/25
“Fifteen killed by Israeli fire near Gaza aid site, hospitals say” Sebastian Usher, 14/6/25
“Searching for answers about US-backed aid agency in Gaza” Tom Bateman, 15/6/25
“Dozens killed by Israeli fire near Gaza aid sites, Hamas-run ministry says” Sebastian Usher, 16/6/25
“Israeli forces kill 51 Palestinians waiting for flour at Gaza aid site, witnesses and rescuers say” Sebastian Usher and Rushdi Abualouf, 17/6/25
“Eleven killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid in Gaza, rescuers say” David Gritten, 18/6/25
“At least 12 Palestinians killed waiting for aid in Gaza, say medics” uncredited, 19/6/25
“Israeli military kills 23 Palestinians near aid site in Gaza, witnesses and medics say” Rushdi Abualouf, 20/6/25
“UN condemns Gaza aid ‘death trap’ as dozens reported killed by Israeli fire” Yolande Knell, 24/6/25
“A month into Gaza’s new aid system – killings, gunfire and chaos are routine” BBC Verify, Merlyn Thomas, Kevin Nguyen & Kayleen Devlin, 27/6/25
“GHF boss defends Gaza aid operation after hundreds of Palestinians killed near sites” uncredited, 28/6/25
“At least 81 people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, Hamas-run health ministry says” Dan Johnson, 28/6/25
“Israeli military investigates ‘reports of harm to civilians’ after hundreds killed near Gaza aid sites” Ione Wells, 30/6/25
Some of the BBC’s additional reporting on the Gaza Strip also referenced alleged incidents at aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and also continued to promote the framing chosen by the BBC even prior to the start of that organisation’s operations – for example:
“Three journalists among five killed in Israeli strike on Gaza hospital” David Gritten, 5/6/25
“Gaza mediators intensifying ceasefire efforts, Hamas official says” David Gritten and Rushdi Abualouf, 26/6/25
“Israeli strike at Gaza market kills 18 Palestinians, doctor and witnesses say” Rushdi Abualouf, 26/6/25
“Israel orders evacuations in northern Gaza as Trump pushes for ceasefire” Alex Boyd, 29/6/25
Concurrently, the BBC promoted one-sided speculations concerning ‘war crimes’:
“The Today Debate: Israel-Gaza – are we witnessing war crimes?” Anna Foster, 4/6/25
“Israel is accused of the gravest war crimes – how governments respond could haunt them for years to come” Jeremy Bowen, 8/6/25
“EU’s 27 countries struggle to find a united voice on Gaza” Nick Beake, 26/6/25
Just five of the fifty-one reports concerning the war between Israel and Hamas that were published on the BBC News website in June 2025 related to the Israeli side of the story – mostly the recovery of the bodies of hostages:
“Israeli military recovers two hostages’ bodies in southern Gaza” David Gritten, 5/6/25
“Body of Thai hostage recovered from Gaza, Israel says” Barbara Plett Usher and Ian Aikman, 7/6/25
“More Israelis want the war to end – driven by fears for hostages, rather than Gaza” Lucy Williamson, 10/6/25
“Israeli forces recover bodies of two hostages in Gaza, PM says” David Gritten, 12/6/25
“Israel recovers bodies of three hostages from Gaza” Thomas Mackintosh, 22/6/25
Notably, not even one BBC report covered the subject of at least nine rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel on five days throughout the month: June 14th (two incidents), June 15th, June 17th, June 20th, June 27th.
BBC audiences were not informed that twenty IDF soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip in nine separate incidents during June. Brief mentions of just two of those incidents appeared in BBC reporting on other topics:
“Gaza mediators intensifying ceasefire efforts, Hamas official says” David Gritten and Rushdi Abualouf, 26/6/25
“Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced that seven soldiers were killed in a bomb attack on Tuesday claimed by Hamas.” […]
“In Israel, the military announced that seven of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza on Tuesday – the deadliest such incident since the ceasefire collapsed.
Spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin said an explosive device was attached to an armoured vehicle in the Khan Younis area, and that the blast caused the vehicle to catch fire. Helicopters and rescue forces made several unsuccessful attempts to rescue them, he added.”
“Israel orders evacuations in northern Gaza as Trump pushes for ceasefire” Alex Boyd, 29/6/25
“Also on Sunday, a 20-year-old IDF soldier, Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, was killed in northern Gaza.”
BBC audiences saw no stand-alone reporting on IDF operations against terrorist operatives in the Gaza Strip in June. Any mention of such operations was limited to brief mentions such as the following example:
“At least 81 people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, Hamas-run health ministry says” Dan Johnson, 28/6/25
“The IDF released a statement on Saturday evening saying it had killed Hakham Muhammad Issa al-Issa, a senior figure in Hamas’s military wing, in the area of Sabra in Gaza City on Friday.
The IDF said he was one of the founding members of Hamas’s military wing, a member of Hamas’s general security council, and played a “significant role in the planning and execution” of Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.”
Among the military operations which the BBC did not consider newsworthy were the June 7th eliminations of two operatives from the Mujahideen Brigades terrorist organisation and a DFLP commander, the June 12th neutralisation of a weapons production site in Shati, the destruction of tunnels, the June 16th elimination of another Mujahideen Brigades commander, the June 17th elimination of a Hamas finance director and the elimination of the perpetrator of the attack in which seven soldiers were killed.
Particularly notable is the BBC’s failure to provide its audiences with any information concerning the Hamas Interior Ministry’s ‘Arrow’ (Sahm) unit which was in the news (including in the Palestinian Authority paper ‘Al-Hayat Al-Jadida’) several times throughout June due to its operatives’ arrests, executions, beatings, shootings and torture of civilians – including protesters – in the Gaza Strip – and threats to aid distributors. In a June 26th report by Rushdi Abualouf, that unit was described merely as “a Hamas police unit”, with readers told that: [emphasis added]
“The Hamas-run interior ministry condemned the strike, accusing Israel of committing “a new crime against a police unit tasked with maintaining public order“.
The Israeli military said it had struck “several armed terrorists” belonging to Hamas’ Internal Security Forces.”
Clearly BBC audiences are not being provided with balanced reporting giving a broad and comprehensive view of events in the Gaza Strip. Instead, the corporation continues to prioritise the promotion of stories concerning the GHF aid distribution project which are primarily based on unverified information supplied by sources more often than not linked to the terrorist organisation which started the war that the BBC purports to report.
Related Articles:
HOW BBC FRAMING OF THE GHF TOES THE UN LINE
LOOKING BEHIND THE TITLES OF TWO BBC SOURCES IN THE GAZA STRIP
MORE BBC PROMOTION OF HAMAS AID CLAIMS AND MESSAGING
BBC NEWS YET AGAIN UNCRITICALLY PROMOTES UNAUTHENTICATED UN CLAIMS
