This piece originally appeared at CAMERA UK.
In mid-February 2025 the BBC began promoting a documentary set to be aired on BBC Two, with viewing available on BBC iPlayer for an additional 11 months.
The synopsis to that film – titled “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone” – described the broadcast as a “dramatic documentary”:
Following the lives of four young people trying to survive the Israel-Hamas war as they hope for a ceasefire – a vivid and unflinching view of life in a warzone.
Israel does not allow foreign journalists to report independently in Gaza. To make this film, two producers based in London remotely directed two cameramen on the ground in Gaza over nine months, gaining access to key locations out of reach to foreign press.
The dramatic documentary sheds new light on life inside Gaza’s humanitarian ‘safe zone’ – showing everyday life with ongoing airstrikes and efforts to keep people alive in its only functioning permanent hospital, Al-Aqsa.
Presumably, even the BBC could not have guessed how dramatic that production would turn out to be.
Below is a timeline of events pertaining to that documentary, including the BBC’s own reporting on the story and some – but by no means all – of the related media coverage.
Feb. 15:
The BBC News website publishes two items promoting the film:
“‘We followed lives of three children surviving war in Gaza. Here’s what we found’” Jamie Roberts
“Boy, 11, living alone in Gaza hospital, has ‘witnessed scenes no child should see,’”
Feb. 17:
BBC World Service promotes the production on its site. The program was aired at 21:00 UK time on BBC Two (UK only) with a second showing scheduled for Feb. 19.
Independent investigative journalist David Collier weighs in with his first critical observation about the documentary.
Feb. 18:
Collier publishes his research relating to the documentary, exposing that child protagonist Abdullah Ayman Eliyazouri is the son of a Hamas minister: “BBC put on a Hamas Propaganda Pantomime”
His findings garner media attention:
“BBC accused of using Hamas official’s son in documentary about ‘ordinary Palestinians,’’’ Telegraph
“BBC faces criticism after claims of Hamas link to Gaza film,” Jewish News
Feb. 19:
The BBC issues a statement on its “Corrections and Clarifications” page.
Another observer raises questions about the film’s secondary protagonist, Zakaria es-Sersek.
The Jewish Chronicle reports (“BBC accused of using child narrator with Hamas family ties in ‘propaganda’ documentary“):
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) told the JC: “The BBC has repeatedly alleged that any under par reporting from the Gaza Strip throughout the past 16 months is the fault of Israel, due to restrictions on the entry of foreign journalists into an active war zone.
“It is of course worth remembering that Egypt has placed identical restrictions – usually not noted by the BBC – and that when the war broke out, the corporation did have an active Gaza bureau, staffed by local journalists, some of whom later chose to leave the territory. Throughout most of the past 16 months, the BBC has used local freelancers to produce reports from the Gaza Strip, usually without identifying them.
“The result of that policy has been incessant and uncritical amplification of propaganda supplied by Hamas ministries and agencies. The results of David Collier’s research into the background to this BBC documentary will hence come as no surprise to those familiar with the corporation’s record of reporting from the Gaza Strip since October 7 2023.”
Additional media coverage includes:
“BBC accused of spreading propaganda after airing Gaza doc featuring Hamas official’s son,” New York Post/JNS
“The BBC’s Gaza documentary omitted something astonishing,” Spectator
“Dozens of Jewish media figures sign letter questioning BBC over ‘propaganda’ documentary,” Jewish Chronicle
Feb. 20:
CAMERA UK documents a mistranslation in the promotional video published on the BBC News website on Feb. 15 (“BBC Gaza Documentary Repeats Past Mistranslations“).
More evidence emerges pointing to the undisclosed Hamas ties of those appearing in the film.
The BBC’s culture department reports that “The culture secretary has said she will raise concerns with BBC bosses about a documentary on Gaza that was narrated by the son of a Hamas official” (“BBC faces questions over Gaza film’s Hamas link“).
The Daily Mail picks up the controversy (“BBC apologies for letting ‘Hamas chief’s son’ narrate Gaza documentary after being accused of failing to ‘carry out the most basic journalistic checks’’).
Feb. 21:
The BBC issues an update to its previous statement and removes the program from BBC iPlayer pending “due diligence” (“BBC pulls Gaza film as it carries out checks over Hamas links“).
The BBC pulls promotions 
published days earlier and apparently removes promotion of the film to “Newsround” younger audiences from YouTube.
The anti-Israel fringe group Jewish Voice for Labour sends a letter to the BBC defending the documentary.
Feb. 22:
Media reports continue to appear (“Who is responsible for the BBC’s Gaza documentary debacle?” in the Spectator and “Pressure grows on BBC as leaked papers point to Gaza film cover-up” in Daily Mail).
Feb. 24:
The Telegraph covers CAMERA Arabic’s findings that one of documentary’s cameramen, Hatem Rawagh, posted tweets cheering the Oct. 7 atrocities (“BBC Gaza documentary cameraman appears to celebrate October 7 attacks“).
Feb. 25:
The Telegraph publishes research by CAMERA Arabic documenting additional mistranslations in the documentary (“BBC removed references to ‘Jews’ and ‘jihad’ in Gaza documentary“).
The Campaign Against Antisemitism holds a protest outside BBC headquarters.
Daily Mail reports (“Cameraman on the BBC’s Gaza documentary ‘celebrated the October 7 massacre’ – as it’s revealed broadcaster ‘poured £400,000 into film“):
The shocking tweets were uncovered by The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera).
A spokesman for Camera said: “These posts appear to be glorifying the horrific terrorist acts committed on October 7, 2023.
“Anyone who wrote them has no place working for the BBC. Here is yet more evidence of the editorial failings in the documentary for which the BBC must answer.”
The Sun features CAMERA Arabic’s findings about Rawagh (“BBC Gaza doc cameraman ‘celebrated October 7 attacks’ in unearthed Tweets before controversial show pulled from iPlayer“):
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) uncovered tweets by Mr Rawagh, according to The Telegraph. …
A spokesman for Camera said: “These posts appear to be glorifying the horrific terrorist acts committed on October 7, 2023.
“Anyone who wrote them has no place working for the BBC.
“Here is yet more evidence of the editorial failings in the documentary for which the BBC must answer.”
Feb. 26
A group called Artists for Palestine UK publishes an open letter criticizing the BBC’s removal of the documentary from iPlayer. BBC selectively covers the letter (“BBC criticised by 500 media figures for pulling Gaza documentary“).
In covering the letter, Jewish Chronicle reports (“Gary Lineker among celebrity signatories of letter criticising BBC for dropping controversial Gaza documentary,”):
And a wave of allegations are still emerging – with a report yesterday from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) sharing a review of some of the Arabic interviews used in the programme.
Camera claimed that the discussions had been incorrectly translated to remove references to “jihad” and changing interviewees’ criticism of “Jews” to that of “Israelis”.
Additional media outlets report on CAMERA Arabic’s discovery of BBC’s systematic mistranslations of the terms “jihad” and “Jews” including:
“BBC accused of ‘whitewashing Gazan antisemitism’ over translations in dropped documentary,” Jewish Chronicle
“BBC’s Accidental Hamas Profile Just the Latest Incident in Long Anti-Israel Track Record,” National Review
“BBC accused of ‘whitewashing’ Gaza documentary as references to ‘Jews’ and ‘jihad’ removed,” LBC News
“Lost in translation? BBC edits Hamas to be more palatable,” Israel Hayom
“BBC Gaza documentary translates ‘Jihad’ to ‘resistance,’ ‘Jews’ to ‘Israeli army,” Times of Israel
Feb. 27:
Questions and calls for an independent inquiry are raised in Parliament.
Following a meeting of the BBC Board, the BBC Media Centre issues another statement:
BBC News has conducted an initial review on the programme “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone”. Today the BBC Board was updated on that work. It has identified serious flaws in the making of this programme. Some of these were made by the production company, and some by the BBC; all of them are unacceptable. BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologise for this. […]
Given the BBC’s own failings, the Director-General has asked for complaints on this matter to be expedited to the Executive Complaints Unit, which is separate from BBC News. Alongside this a full fact-finding review will be undertaken; the Director-General has asked Peter Johnston to lead this work.
The BBC covers the media center’s statement (“BBC review finds ‘serious flaws’ over Gaza documentary“).
About the mistranslations which CAMERA Arabic exposed, Spike details (“How luvvies became the useful idiots of Hamas“):
Something else happened yesterday, too: it was revealed that the BBC mistranslated the comments of some of the participants in the doc. Camera – the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis – found five instances of the filmmakers changing “the Jews” to “Israeli forces”. So the doc’s subtitles show a woman describing 7 October as “the first time we invaded Israel”. But what she actually said was: “We were invading the Jews for the first time.” In the most egregious mistranslation, a woman is shown lauding Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader killed by Israel last October. He was “fighting and resisting Israeli forces”, her subtitles say. But her mouth said something else. “He was engaging in… jihad against the Jews” – those were her real words.
Other media outlets continue to cover various aspects of the documentary fiasco:
“BBC admits family of Hamas minister WAS PAID for Gaza documentary,” Jewish News
“BBC removes mentions of Jihad, Jews from Hamas-linked documentary,“ Jerusalem Post
Feb. 28
A meeting between the Culture Secretary and the Chair of the BBC is announced, along with a planned March 4 committee meeting of the Department of Culture, Media and Sports.
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, an anti-Israel organization, lodges a complaint against the BBC’s removal of the documentary from iPlayer.
In more selective reporting, BBC covers the latest developments (“Questions still remain for BBC after damaging Gaza documentary“).
Additional media coverage includes:
“This week of shame proves the BBC can no longer be trusted to clean up its own scandals,” Telegraph
“BBC apologises for ‘flaws’ in Gaza documentary, including paying family with Hamas links,” Jewish Chronicle
“MPs call for independent investigation into BBC Gaza documentary,” Jewish Chronicle
“BBC could face terror probe after admitting family of senior Hamas official was paid for making controversial Gaza documentary,” Daily Mail
“Culture Secretary summons BBC chair to ‘urgent’ meeting over Hamas-linked film,” Independent
March 3:
OFCOM, the British government-approved regulatory body of broadcast services, informs the BBC chair of potential intervention should the internal investigation prove to be unsatisfactory.
This post will be updated as necessary.
March 4:
The BBC Director General and the BBC Chairman appear at a Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee meeting with the latter calling for an independent review of the corporation’s Middle East coverage (“‘I lost trust’ in Gaza film, says BBC boss Tim Davie“).
The issue was also raised in the House of Lords.
Media coverage appears in Jewish Chronicle (“BBC Chair calls for ‘independent review’ of Middle East coverage“ and Jewish News (“Labour peer joins calls for ‘proper independent review’ into BBC Middle East coverage“).