Gaza doctors at centre of harrowing BBC report are long-time supporters of Hamas

Mar 25, 2024 by Jill

By Mary O’Connor, Ian Gallagher and Natalie Lisbona, Mail on Sunday:

MPs demand bias inquiry.

All day long on March 12, the BBC led its radio and TV bulletins with a shocking report from Gaza in which hospital medics described being tortured and abused by Israeli forces.

Even for a conflict overladen with grim testimony and emotive images, this was highly charged material, the kind that could inflame communities in Britain.

What was being alleged, after all, blatantly contravened the fundamental principle that hospitals – in this case the Nasser hospital in the city of Khan Yunis – should be protected in wartime.

International condemnation was swift, with Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron among those demanding an explanation from Israel.

The BBC has faced accusations of anti-Israel-bias and of fuelling anti-Semitism, so it was anxious to demonstrate that it went to considerable lengths to corroborate evidence. No doubt it was reassured that the claims came from doctors. Surely reliable witnesses?

But a Mail on Sunday investigation has uncovered some disturbing truths about six of the eight medics interviewed – evidence that should, at the very least, have given BBC news executives pause for thought as they rolled out their scoop with dramatic fanfare.

Astonishingly, all six have repeatedly spouted anti-Semitic slurs on social media, with posts ranging from the provocative and inflammatory to the downright obscene.

Last night, our findings prompted demands for an independent inquiry into the BBC report. A peer said the corporation was being ‘led by its nose by Hamas’.

Read here