BBC’s failure to report Gaza war with integrity drove me to resign, says ex-newsreader
Karishma Patel criticised the BBC’s handling of crucial stories, particularly its decision to withdraw the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone and its initial reluctance to report on the death of a Palestinian child, Hind Rajab.
A former BBC newsreader and Middle East specialist has revealed that she resigned from the broadcaster over what she described as its failure to cover the Gaza conflict with integrity, citing its reluctance to report on key stories and its controversial decision to pull a documentary on Palestinian children.
Karishma Patel, in a comment published by The Independent, criticised the BBC’s handling of crucial stories, particularly its decision to withdraw the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone and its initial reluctance to report on the death of a Palestinian child, Hind Rajab.
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“There’s one day that stands out to me in the many months of covering Gaza as a Middle East specialist at the BBC,” Patel wrote.
“I stood in front of my team, pitching – for the second time – the story of a five-year-old girl trapped in a car with her murdered relatives: Hind Rajab.”
Hind, aged six, was killed in Gaza City after reportedly being trapped in a vehicle surrounded by the bodies of her dead family members. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) had been actively updating the world on her situation as they tried to rescue her. However, when an ambulance said to have received permission to reach Hind arrived, it was fired upon. Two paramedics also lost their lives.
According to Patel, the BBC declined to cover Hind’s story that day.
“It was only after the Israeli military killed her, shooting the car 300 times with her inside, that our public broadcaster chose to say her name,” she said.
“And when it did, the article headline didn’t even make clear who had done what. It shied away from coming to a conclusion.”
Patel argued that this failure reflected a wider issue in the BBC’s editorial approach to Gaza. She also condemned the decision to pull Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which followed scrutiny over the fact that the film’s 13-year-old narrator is related to a Hamas-run agriculture ministry official.
Patel dismissed this as an excuse, stating that the BBC could have simply added context instead of removing the documentary.
“The BBC failed Hind. And it has failed Palestinian children again in pulling the documentary,” she wrote.
“It had the option of keeping the version with a line of context on this, ultimately standing by the truth at the heart of the film: that Israel is harming Palestinian children.”
The removal of the documentary sparked backlash, with more than 1,000 individuals, including public figures such as Gary Lineker and Miriam Margolyes, signing an open letter condemning the decision.
On Tuesday, BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Chair Samir Shah faced questioning at the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in Parliament. MP Rupa Huq challenged the executives on whether they had thrown “the baby out with the bathwater” by scrapping the film. While the BBC claimed there were “serious flaws” in the way the documentary was produced, Patel argued that this was part of a broader failure in how the broadcaster covers Gaza.
Palestinians break their fast by eating the Iftar meals during the holy month of Ramadan, near the rubble of buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 1, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)
During the session, Davie acknowledged the need for an independent review of the BBC’s overall Middle East coverage, a move Patel believes is necessary.
Patel, who spent five years at the BBC, rising from a researcher to a newsreader and journalist, said her experience covering Gaza exposed “a shocking level of editorial inconsistency.”
She claimed that journalists were choosing not to follow the evidence “out of fear” and drew parallels with past BBC reporting errors on climate change.
“For months, I watched the BBC repeat one of its gravest editorial errors around climate change: debating a phenomenon long after the evidence showed it’s real,” she said.
“We deserve a public service broadcaster that follows the evidence in a timely manner, without fear or favour.”
Patel also dismissed the idea that impartiality means giving equal weight to all perspectives, arguing that journalism should be grounded in evidence-based conclusions rather than endless debates.
“Impartiality has failed if its key method is to constantly balance ‘both sides’ of a story as equally true. A news outlet that refuses to come to conclusions becomes a vehicle in informational warfare,” she said.
She described the distressing images she encountered daily while reporting on Gaza, saying they were “a branding iron to the brain.”
Patel recalled the moment she first saw a man crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer.
Palestinians walk among the rubble of buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 27, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed)
“The image was so blurred I might have been looking at a tuft of poppies. As it sharpened, I saw the pulp of a man’s flesh pressed into the ground, orange and red. For months, I would think of him and my chest would convulse. But I refused to turn away,” she said.
For Patel, the contrast between the brutal evidence she saw and the BBC’s cautious, “50/50” debates on Israel’s actions became unbearable.
“To see such overwhelming evidence every day and then hear 50/50 debates on Israel’s conduct – this is what created the biggest rift between my commitment to truth and the role I had to play as a BBC journalist,” she explained.
She argued that the evidence of Israeli war crimes is now indisputable.
“There’s more than enough evidence – from Palestinians on the ground, aid organisations, legal bodies – to come to coverage-shaping conclusions around what Israel has done,” she wrote.
Patel compared the BBC’s current stance on Gaza to its past reluctance to acknowledge climate change. She pointed out that in 2018, the broadcaster issued long-overdue editorial guidance stating: “Climate change IS happening.” She suggested that similar clarity is now needed for Gaza coverage.
“There was a sigh of relief from climate scientists after years spent warning the organisation its debates were harmful,” she said.
“Coverage would now be rooted in this evidence-based conclusion.”
For Patel, resigning was the only option. She said she believes the BBC must fundamentally reassess its approach to covering Gaza, moving away from what she calls false impartiality and toward journalism that is rooted in clear, evidence-based reporting.
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