The BBC has been accused of airing Hamas propaganda and has finally apologised

The BBC has issued a formal apology after it was lashed for airing a one-hour documentary that was narrated by the son of a minister in terrorist organisation Hamas.

Abdullah Al-Yazouri is the narrator of the BBC documentary' Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. Picture: BBC

The BBC has apologised for airing Hamas “propaganda” by telling stories of Gazan children trying to survive without disclosing that the documentary heavily featured the son of a deputy minister of the terrorist organisation.

Furore erupted in the UK after the public-funded media organisation aired the one-hour documentary on BBC on Monday night called, ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ and featured children residing in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attacks.

The apology came after backlash erupted over the airing of the program and the BBC initially standing by its decision to air the program.

“Since the transmission of our documentary on Gaza, the BBC has become aware of the family connections of the film’s narrator, a child called Abdullah,” the BBC said.

“We’ve promised our audiences the highest standards of transparency, so it is only right that as a result of this new information, we add some more detail to the film before its retransmission.

“We apologise for the omission of that detail from the original film.”

A 13-year-old boy who introduces himself as ‘Abdullah’ is the narrator of the documentary and he can be seen walking through the war-torn area revealing the devastation many are facing in the region.

The teenager opens the program by asking viewers if you could stay alive in these conditions.

“Have you ever wondered what you’d do if your world was destroyed?”, he said.

“Could you live in a tent? Raise your baby?”

One day you might need it. pic.twitter.com/7yGt2kBg4a

— Yousef D. Hammash (@YousefHammash) February 12, 2025

After the documentary aired it emerged that Abdullah’s father is the deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza, Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri, and the teenager is also related to one of the families who helped found Hamas, Ibrahim Al-Yazouri.

The BBC has been criticised for not doing its due diligence and checking any Hamas-related links before the documentary was filmed and later aired.

Hamas deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri, is said to be Abdulla's father

Abdullah can be seen walking through rubble of what were previously homes in Gaza and said: “Right here was my grandfather’s house. About 40 people were here, including me and my family.

“Warplanes dropped four massive bombs here.

“We’d already been displaced four times when this happened”.

Investigative journalist David Collier hit out on social media platform X this week accusing the BBC of becoming a “propaganda tool of Hamas”.

News Corp has contacted the ABC to determine whether it will air the documentary - often the public broadcaster airs BBC content.

An ABC spokeswoman said, “the ABC hasn’t had a viewing of the documentary yet”.

Hey @BBCNews

You know how your documentary from Gaza was secretly fronted by family from the Hamas government.

Did you pay them any money? Did you hand cash over to a family from a proscribed terrorist group?

Asking for the police.... and the millions of Brits who fund you.

— David Collier (@mishtal) February 19, 2025

The BBCinitially told News Corp in a statement on Wednesday that the documentary was “produced in line with BBC editorial guidelines and the BBC had full editorial control.

“The film told the children’s own stories, showing viewers their direct experiences of living through a war and the children’s parents did not have any editorial input”.

The documentary was directed by Yousef Hammash who describes himself online as a Palestinian award-winning filmmaker and he compiled it with colleague Jamie Roberts.

Originally published as The BBC has been accused of airing Hamas propaganda and has finally apologised