The BBC has released a report regarding the controversy surrounding its documentary "Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone," which aired in February and was later removed from iPlayer.
The report revealed that the documentary violated the Commission's principles of accuracy and editing by failing to disclose that the film's narrator is Abdullah al-Yazuri, the son of Ayman al-Yazuri, a senior Hamas official.
The review confirmed that independent production company Huyu Films was fully aware of this connection, while no BBC staff were aware of it at the time.
Despite these violations, the report, prepared by Peter Johnston, the independent director of editorial complaints and reviews, concluded that the documentary did not violate the principle of impartiality, as no evidence was found to suggest that the narrator's father or family had influenced the content of the work.
The producers of the documentary "Gaza: Doctors Under Fire" revealed that the BBC had withdrawn the film before its broadcast, following several delays, stressing that the reason was political, not editorial.
The film, directed by Karim Shah and produced by journalist Ramita Navai, documents moving testimonies from doctors and paramedics in Gaza and has been approved by the channel's lawyers and editors.
The producers explained that the BBC tried to minimize Navai's role, claiming that her tweets on X were biased toward the Palestinian cause.
