The Centre for Media Monitoring says the BBC gave more weight to Israel’s side, ignored historical context, and failed to report Palestinian suffering fairly during the Gaza conflict
LONDON – A major new report has accused the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) of showing clear and repeated bias in its reporting on the conflict in Gaza. The Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM), which monitors how British media reports on Islam and Muslims, released a 180-page report titled “BBC on Gaza-Israel: One Story, Double Standards” on Monday. The report says the BBC failed to follow its duty of impartiality and misrepresented the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza by giving more attention and sympathy to Israeli victims.
The study examined 3,873 BBC online articles and 32,092 TV and radio segments from October 7, 2023, to October 6, 2024. The findings suggest that the BBC’s editorial choices led to a serious lack of balance and fairness in how it reported the events of the conflict.
One of the key findings is the huge difference in how Israeli and Palestinian deaths were reported. According to CFMM, although 42,010 Palestinians were killed compared to 1,246 Israelis — meaning Palestinian deaths were 34 times higher — the BBC still gave far more attention to Israeli casualties.
“BBC articles covered Israeli deaths per death 33 times more than Palestinian deaths, and the same pattern was seen in broadcasts,” the report said.
The report also found that the BBC used strong and emotional words like “massacre,” “atrocities,” and “slaughter” far more often when talking about Israeli victims. In contrast, similar terms were rarely used when describing attacks on Palestinians. The word “massacre” appeared 18 times more often in stories about Israeli deaths and was never used in headlines about Palestinian casualties.
Faiza Mujahid, head of research at CFMM, said: “This shows a clear imbalance in language that can affect how audiences see the conflict. Such bias can make Palestinian suffering seem less serious.”
Another serious concern raised was how BBC interviews featured more Israeli voices than Palestinian ones. According to the report, there were 2,350 Israeli guests and only 1,085 Palestinian guests on BBC programmes during the period studied.
In many of these interviews, Palestinians were also asked difficult questions that Israelis were not. The report found that 38 Palestinian or pro-Palestinian guests were asked to condemn the Hamas attack on October 7, but Israeli guests were not similarly asked to condemn the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces.
“This is a clear double standard,” said a former BBC employee who spoke to CFMM but asked not to be named. “The same level of questioning was not applied to both sides.”
The report also criticised the BBC for failing to explain the full background of the conflict. Most BBC reports treated October 7 as the starting point, with very few articles explaining the history of Israel’s occupation, its blockade of Gaza, or earlier military operations.
Only 5% of the BBC’s articles mentioned these key historical points. The report said that failing to give this background creates a misleading picture of the conflict and supports the Israeli version of events.
“The BBC cannot ignore the long history of suffering that Palestinians have gone through. By doing so, it tells only half the story,” said Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories. She added, “This is not just bad journalism. It hides a whole people’s experience.”
CFMM also pointed out that the BBC barely used legal language such as “war crimes” or “genocide” when referring to Israel’s actions, even though international courts are currently investigating such claims. The report said the BBC used the term “war crimes” in only 3% of its stories on Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
It also found that when guests or interviewees mentioned genocide, they were often interrupted or their comments dismissed. In fact, over 100 times, interviewers stopped guests from making such claims or failed to follow up on them.
Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK, said: “This report is an indication of a wider problem. Media outlets like the BBC have a responsibility to treat all lives equally and report fairly. What we see here is a failure to meet that standard.”
The CFMM report also compared the BBC’s coverage of the Gaza conflict with how it reported the war in Ukraine. The findings showed a clear difference in tone and sympathy.
The word “hostage” was used widely for Israeli captives held by Hamas, but the BBC rarely used similar terms for more than 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons without formal charges under a system called “administrative detention”.
Also, the BBC accused Russia of war crimes 2.7 times more often than it did Israel, despite both conflicts involving serious allegations of attacks on civilians.
“This shows that the BBC applies one standard for one country and a different one for another. That is not fair and not acceptable from a public broadcaster,” said Faiza Mujahid.
The report includes statements from former BBC journalists, diplomats, and legal experts. Many of them agreed that the BBC failed to meet its public duty during a critical time in one of the most violent chapters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The BBC has a special role in British society. It is trusted around the world. But when it fails to show balance, it not only misinforms the public, it damages democracy,” said a former BBC news editor who spoke anonymously.
Others, like Francesca Albanese and Sacha Deshmukh, said the BBC needs to look closely at its own work and take serious steps to improve.
CFMM is now asking the BBC to carry out an independent review of its Gaza coverage and make changes to fix the problems found in the report.
“This is not about criticising individual journalists,” said Faiza Mujahid. “This is about fixing an institutional problem. The BBC must tell the full truth, especially in times of war. It must earn the public’s trust again.”
She also pointed to the BBC’s own rules under the Royal Charter, which says the broadcaster must provide accurate, fair and impartial news.
“During one of the most important and heartbreaking years for Palestinians, the BBC failed to follow its own values. We need change, not just words,” she said.
