We have previously documented the BBC’s swift embrace of the ‘Israel targets journalists’ narrative following the Hamas-led invasion of Israel and massacres on October 7th 2023 and Hizballah’s entry into the conflict the following day.
BBC NEWS WEBSITE REPORTING ON THE DEATHS OF JOURNALISTS
The first BBC backgrounder on that topic appeared just three weeks after the attacks, on October 28th 2023, in the form of an Arabic language report – “Learn about the most prominent journalists killed in the Gaza war” written by Layla Bashar al-Kloub – which was translated into other languages including Portuguese, Hausa, Turkish and Swahili.
The Arabic version of al-Kloub’s report was subsequently updated several times, including in November 2023, April 2024 and August 2025.
As documented by our colleagues at CAMERA Arabic, al-Kloub based her original report on data provided by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) but excluded that organisation’s notes concerning the affiliations to terrorist organisations of some of the media outlets employing the listed journalists.
Al-Kloub also refrained from telling BBC audiences about terror-glorifying statements made by some of the journalists she listed. Information gathered by analysts and independent researchers showing that some of the journalists listed by al-Kloub were terror operatives or had links to terrorist organisations was not included in the amendments made to her report.
In recent weeks both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have released mourning notices which cast further light on some of the people presented by the BBC as journalists who “paid with their lives for reporting the truth” and the circumstances of their deaths.
One name appearing in al-Kloub’s report is that of Yaqoub Al-Barsh (also al-Borsh or al-Barash).
The CPJ removed the entry for al-Barsh from its website following Hamas’ publication of a mourning notice for him as a “group commander” but his name still appears in various versions of the BBC’s report.
Updated versions of al-Kloub’s report include the name Mohammed Nabil Al-Zaq.
In March 2026 the PIJ described him as the head of PIJ’s Central Bureau in the Northern Region.
The BBC’s report lists Muhammad Nasr Abu Huwaidi, together with comment from UNESCO.
In March 2026 the PIJ listed Abu Huwaidi as a commander in PIJ’s Central Military Media Unit.
The BBC’s reports also list Mustafa Bakir.
In April 2026 Hamas identified Bakir as a member of its military media and a commander in the Rafah Brigade’s Artillery Battalion.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s recent mourning notices include additional names listed by the CPJ, which the BBC uses as its source – for example: Salem Hosni Salem Abu Tayr and Mohammed al-Saeed Ismail Abu Sakhil, who was killed in fighting near Shifa hospital in 2024.
One particularly interesting name on al-Kloub’s list of journalists is that of Mustafa Al-Sawaf, who is also listed by the CPJ.
Mustafa Al-Sawaf was a member of Hamas since its establishment and held posts in its ministries and political bureau. A mourning notice was issued by the terror group at the time. According to Palestinian sources, he had worked “as a part-time correspondent for the BBC in London in 1999”. A 2004 report by HRW claims that a press agency owned by al-Sawaf provided services to Arabic language media outlets “including Islam Online, MBC in Dubai, Al-Nur Radio in Lebanon and the BBC Arabic Service” and was located in the same building as BBC offices.
Notably, the BBC’s reporting also fails to adequately clarify cases in which journalists were not in fact the target of strikes. For example, one of the journalists appearing in the original version of al-Kloub’s report is Salam Meema (or Mayma) who worked for a PIJ affiliated journalists’ syndicate.
Earlier this month the Palestinian Islamic Jihad issued a mourning notice for her husband – a commander in the PIJ’s Central Coordination Unit in the Northern Brigade.
Another entry states:
“Palestinian TV correspondent Mohammed Abu Hatab was killed on November 2nd, along with 11 members of his family, in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Abu Hatab had been reporting daily from Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, and his last report was from outside the hospital just an hour before he was killed, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.”
The target of that strike was in fact Abu Hatab’s son, who took part in the kidnapping of an elderly Israeli woman on October 7th 2023.
Another entry tells BBC audiences that:
“Journalist Nazmi al-Nadim, an administrator at Palestine TV, was killed on October 30th, along with several members of his family, in an airstrike on his home in the Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City. A Palestine TV employee wrote a tribute to “Abu Ahmad,” saying, “Who will press our olives now… Why didn’t you wait so you could perform Hajj this year as you wished?””
The target of that strike was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander who was in the same house.
An additional entry states:
“Ahmed Shehab, a journalist with Voice of the Prisoners radio, was killed on October 12, along with his wife and three children, in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.”
The target of that strike was one of Shehab’s relatives who was a PIJ commander previously imprisoned in Israel.
While some of the relevant information concerning the journalists listed by the BBC and the circumstances of their deaths has taken time to appear, other details have been known for sufficient time for the corporation to have taken steps to update its reporting in accordance with editorial guidelines on accuracy and impartiality. However, as the above few examples show, no such action has been taken and the “permanent public record” is therefore compromised.
It is of course easy to promote the politically motivated narrative of “targeting journalists” when relevant context such as military roles, terrorist affiliations, family terror links or location is concealed from audiences. As we have seen both in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon sectors, that is more often than not the case in BBC reporting.
However, when media and advocacy organisations serially fail to challenge those who exploit the profession for the purposes of terrorism, they undermine its very foundations and compromise public trust in journalism in general.
