BBC coverage of Israel's war on Gaza 'systematically biased against Palestinians'

The BBC’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza is “systematically biased against Palestinians”, according to an analysis of over 35,000 pieces of content produced by the UK's public broadcaster.

The study, conducted by the Muslim Council of Britain's Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM), which monitors how the national media reports on Islam and Muslims, found that the BBC gives Israeli deaths 33 times more coverage than Palestinian ones.

In an analysis of 3,873 articles and 32,092 broadcast segments from 7 October 2023 to 6 October 2024, the CFMM found that the BBC used emotive terms four times as much for Israeli victims and applied “massacre” 18 times more to Israeli casualties than Palestinian ones.

According to its authors, the report “reveals a systematic omission of key historical and contemporary context that has acquired an institutional quality at the BBC”, including the genocidal rhetoric used by Israeli leaders – notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog - and a failure to scrutinise Israeli claims and denials.

Read more: BBC coverage of Israel's war on Gaza 'systematically biased against Palestinians'