On August 19th the BBC News website published a report by David Gritten about an attempted terror attack that had taken place the previous day in Tel Aviv. Headlined “Hamas claims Tel Aviv bomb explosion as suicide attack”, that report was not updated when the identity of the terrorist became known days later and BBC audiences were not informed that the attack was claimed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as by Hamas or that representatives of those two Iran-backed terrorist organisations had called for a return to the tactic of suicide bombings.
Gritten’s report also made no mention of the fact that five days before the attempted Tel Aviv attack, an incident involving explosives had taken place near Hebron.
“Two terrorists were found in critical condition after a bomb exploded while they drove through downtown Hebron, Israeli media reported Tuesday.
According to Israeli media, the bomb was allegedly in the middle of being transported from one location to another and exploded by accident.”
Gritten did however tell his readers that:
“There has been a spike in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza.”
As has been repeatedly documented here, “a spike in violence” in areas supposedly under the security control of the Palestinian Authority began long before October 7th 2023. In fact, on February 28th 2023 the BBC News website published a backgrounder written by its Middle East editor Raffi Berg and titled ‘Why is Israel-Palestinian violence surging?’ which did remarkably little to contribute to audience understanding of the background to that “spike”. As we noted at the time:
“…the word Hamas does not appear even once in Berg’s backgrounder. Readers hence learn nothing about the smuggling of weapons into areas ostensibly under Palestinian Authority control or about Hamas’ practical and financial roles in the establishment, arming and direction of new and existing terror groups.”
Throughout the past three years, the BBC has repeatedly sidelined the issue of weapons smuggling and largely avoided the issue of the role of Iran and its proxies in financing and facilitating the rise in terrorism in Judea & Samaria.
On August 28th, Israeli forces began counter-terrorism operations in several locations in Palestinian Authority controlled areas, including one linked to the attempted Tel Aviv attack ten days earlier.
“Troops taking part in the IDF’s large-scale raid in the West Bank are operating in an area from which an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv was launched last week, military sources say.
The military believes that a terror network that planned and directed the intended attack is based in the Tulkarem area.”
Those counter-terrorism operations quickly became the topic of extensive coverage on the BBC News website:
1. “At least 10 Palestinians killed in Israeli raids in West Bank”, Yolande Knell, 28/8/24
2. Live Page, “Edited by Emily Atkinson and Francesca Gillett, with Lucy Williamson reporting from Jenin in the occupied West Bank”, 28/8/24 and 29/8/24
3. “UN calls for de-escalation as Israeli West Bank raids continue”, Alex Smith & Mallory Moench, 29/8/24
4. “Inside the sealed-off Jenin refugee camp targeted by IDF”, Lucy Williamson, 29/8/24
5. “Israel says Hamas leader killed on third day of West Bank operation”, David Gritten, 30/8/24
6. “Israeli West Bank raid leaves destruction and determination in its wake”, Lucy Williamson, 30/8/24
7. “Families leave Jenin camp in Israel West Bank push”, Lucy Williamson, 31/8/24
Notably, the attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv ten days earlier was referenced in only one of the portrayals of the background to the story told in those reports. Readers found repeated promotion of the misleading claim that the rise in terrorism in Judea & Samaria began in October 2023 and well as qualified references to the Iranian aspect of the story. [emphasis added]
“There has been a spike in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces have intensified their raids, saying they are trying to stem deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel.”
“Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz put out a strongly worded statement saying the military was acting with “full force” in Jenin and Tulkarm, aiming to “dismantle Iranian-Islamic terror infrastructures established there”.
He accused Iran, which backs Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, of trying to “establish an eastern terror front” by funding and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan.”
“Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said the operation has a “clear goal: preventing Iranian terror-by-proxy that would harm Israeli civilians”.
In recent days, Israeli politicians have accused Iran – which backs both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – of trying to smuggle in explosive devices with the aim of attacking Israel.
Israel “cannot sit idly by and wait for the spectacle of buses and cafes exploding in city centres”, Mr Danon said in a post on X.
There has been a spike in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel, and the subsequent war in Gaza.”
Williamson 29/8/24:
No background provided
“There has been a spike in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces have intensified their raids, saying they are trying to stem deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel.”
Williamson 30/8/24:
“Israel says this is a counter-terrorist operation, to dismantle Palestinian armed groups it says are funded and armed by Iran.”
Williamson 31/8/24:
“Israel says this is a counter-terrorism operation to dismantle armed Palestinian groups, which it believes are backed by Iran.
An attempted bomb attack in Tel Aviv earlier this month has also sparked alarm in Israel that the threat of suicide attacks in Israeli cities will resurface.”
Entries on the BBC News website’s live page likewise limited presentation of the Iranian aspect of the background to this story to quotes from Israelis but readers did discover that at least one BBC journalist knows that the surge in terrorism originating in PA controlled areas did not begin ten months ago.
Remarkably, while the BBC refrained from providing its audiences with the context to the three-year-old rise in terrorism in Judea & Samaria and failed make any attempt to explain Iran’s role in its own words, its coverage did include references to a topic which the BBC apparently believes its audiences should view as part of the background to this story.
“Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.”
Over the past three years or so, BBC reporting on terrorism in Judea & Samaria has repeatedly failed to adequately provide audiences with an accurate picture of the factors that make up the context to that story. As we see, the corporation’s extensive coverage of the latest counter-terrorism operation in Judea & Samaria once again fails to explain the ‘why?’ part of the story, thus failing to provide the “range and depth of analysis” essential for its full understanding.
Related Articles:
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HOW DID THE BBC EXPLAIN THE JENIN COUNTER-TERROR OPERATION?
BBC NEWS CONTINUES TO PRESENT A PARTIAL PICTURE OF TERROR IN JENIN
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI’S LIES PLATFORMED ON BBC TV, RADIO AND WEBSITE
Well the BBC is simply the mouthpiece of the Iranian Islamist regime and its proxies. That is how they managed to report on October 7th in full detail within twenty minutes of the start of the attack, they were obviously fed information prior to the attack or were in direct communication with the attackers. That being the case how is it that the anti-terrorist squad are not interviewing these BBC/Hamas collaborators? #defundthebbc