BBC reviewing inclusion of 53 terrorists on list of journalists killed in Gaza during war - report

The BBC is reviewing the inclusion of 53 terrorists on a list published by BBC Arabic of “journalists” killed in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war, according to a Saturday report from The Telegraph. 

According to the Telegraph, the 53 alleged journalists have been claimed by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations as martyrs after they were killed. 

When war broke out after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, BBC Arabic published and continually updated a list of alleged journalists who were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza. The list, which was most recently updated in August 2025, consists of over 180 Palestinian journalists, including the 53 terrorists.

Ten of the terrorists were described as journalists by both BBC Arabic and English-language BBC, and the other 43 only appeared on the BBC Arabic list.

Twelve of them have been removed from the casualty list of the US-based organization the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which defends the rights of journalists in combat zones.

CPJ removes individuals from list after finding terror group ties

A review conducted by the CPJ found that multiple individuals on the list belonged to terror groups and some had participated in the October 7 massacre.  

Abdullah Darwish, described by BBC Arabic as a cameraman for Al-Aqsa TV, was removed from the CPJ list after photos emerged of Darwish in Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigade uniform and it was revealed that he had participated in the October 7 attacks, the Telegraph wrote.

Yaqoub Al-Barsh, described by BBC Arabic as executive director of Namaa radio, was removed from the CPJ list after he too was discovered to have been a member of Hamas's Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which lists him as a "martyr" online, according to the report.

An additional 20 out of the 53 alleged journalists were found to have obituaries published by terrorist organizations, including Mohammed Al-Zaq, whose obituary was written by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Mustafa Bakir, described by Hamas as a field commander; and Abdullah Iyad Baris, described by Hamas as a "knight" in its Khan Yunis Brigade, among others, the Telegram wrote.  

The remaining 21 names listed as journalists appeared in pictures online carrying weapons and wearing military uniforms, including Ahmed Samir Muhammad Washah, who appeared in a post being trained to use a grenade launcher, and Amr Abu Odeh, who was hailed as a hero of the Al-Qassam Brigades, according to the Telegram.

BBC previously accused of anti-Israel bias

The BBC has come under fire before for alleged bias against Israel.

A whistleblower report from November revealed that BBC Arabic chose to “minimize Israeli suffering” in its reporting of the war against Hamas in order to present it as the aggressor.

The whistleblower claimed that BBC Arabic gave a platform to journalists who made antisemitic comments and provided multiple examples, including one man who said Jews should be burned “as Hitler did,” who appeared as a guest on BBC Arabic 244 times in a year and a half. Another, who said Jews are “devils,” appeared 522 times during the same time period.

“It is hard to conclude anything other than that BBC Arabic’s story treatment was designed to minimize Israeli suffering and paint Israel as the aggressor,” the reporter said, according to the Telegraph.