Review Finds BBC Breached Guidelines Over Gaza Documentary Narrated by Son of Hamas Official

The review’s lead, Peter Johnston, said that he did not find that HOYO Films ‘intentionally misled’ the BBC on the position of the narrator’s father.

The BBC Broadcasting House in London on March 11, 2023. James Manning/PA Wire

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) breached editorial guidelines on accuracy after failing to disclose that a documentary on the Gaza Strip was narrated by the son of an official of the Hamas terrorist group, an internal review found.

“Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone” was produced by independent production company HOYO Films and aired on BBC Two on Feb. 17, 2025.

Shortly thereafter, an investigation was opened when it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as the deputy agriculture minister for Hamas.

The documentary was also removed from the broadcaster’s streaming service, iPlayer.

Review lead Peter Johnston, the BBC’s director of editorial complaints and reviews, said in his findings published on July 14 that although HOYO Films “is the party with most responsibility for this failure,” the BBC bears some responsibility.

“Regardless of how the significance or otherwise of the narrator’s father’s position was judged, the audience should have been informed about this,” the review said.

Johnston found that the program breached Editorial Guideline 3.3.17 on accuracy, which deals with misleading audiences.

The broadcaster said in a statement, “The BBC takes this finding very seriously, acknowledging it has ultimate editorial responsibility for the program as broadcast.”

Did Not Intentionally Mislead

The report found that when the documentary was aired in February, three members of the HOYO Films team were aware of Alyazouri’s role in the Hamas-led government but that no one at the BBC knew at the time.

It added that HOYO “gave no indication to the BBC that there was any issue regarding the narrator or his family which merited further editorial consideration or discussion,” which was a “significant oversight” by the production company.

The report said, “In light of this inequality of information and the opportunities that the production company had to bring this information to the BBC’s attention, which it did not take, the production company is the party with most responsibility for this failure.”

However, Johnston said that he did not consider that HOYO Films “intentionally misled” the BBC on the position of the narrator’s father.

The report did criticize the BBC for not being “sufficiently proactive” in the early stages of the project to ensure that relevant editorial risks were fully discussed and that HOYO Films had received the guidance and support it needed.

Johnston found no other breaches of editorial guidelines in its production, including impartiality. He also said there was no evidence that outside interests had “inappropriately impacted on the program.”

Significant Failing

BBC Director General Tim Davies said: “Peter Johnston’s report identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy in this documentary. I thank him for his thorough work, and I am sorry for this failing.

“We will now take action on two fronts—fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated.”

HOYO Films said in a statement that it took Johnston’s report “extremely seriously” and apologized “for the mistake that resulted in a breach of editorial guidelines.”

“HOYO Films welcomes the report’s recommendations and hopes they will improve processes and prevent similar problems in the future,” the production company said.

Responding to the report, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she is pleased that the BBC acknowledged the failures.

“It’s not for the government to say who should and shouldn’t work at the BBC. My job is to make sure that we uphold the highest standards and that the public and Parliament can have confidence in the BBC,” she said.

“I’ve had several meetings with them, I believe that they are acting now at pace to put in place measures to make sure that this cannot happen again, and I’m pleased that there has been an acknowledgement about what a catastrophic failure this has been.”