The British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) has been accused by more than 100 of its staff for giving Israel favourable coverage in its reporting of the war on Gaza and criticised its lack of “accurate evidence-based journalism”.
A letter sent to the broadcaster’s director general, Tim Davie, and CEO Deborah Turness on Friday said: “Basic journalistic tenets have been lacking when it comes to holding Israel to account for its actions.”
First reported by The Independent newspaper on Friday, the signatories included more than 100 anonymous BBC staff and some 200 from the media industry, as well as historians, actors, academics and politicians, Aljazeera media network report.
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“The consequences of inadequate coverage are significant. Every television report, article and radio interview that has failed to robustly challenge Israeli claims has systematically dehumanised Palestinians,” the letter said.
In the same vein, at least three people have been killed and several more wounded after Israeli jets bombed a house in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, Al Jazeera Arabic journalist report.
Meanwhile, the United Nations humanitarian agency said the humanitarian situation in Lebanon has reached levels that exceed the severity” of the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, with many more now killed and displaced.
The statement came as the Lebanese Health Ministry updated the death toll from Israeli attacks on the country to at least 2,968 people, while another 13,319 have been wounded.
The Lebanese government says some 1.2 million people have been displaced, while the International Organization for Migration said its count shows at least 842,648 people have been forced to flee their homes.
In the 2006 war killed 1,191 people in Lebanon, while more than 900,000 fled their homes, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The situation has escalated anew, due to Israel’s forced displacement orders for the residents of eastern Baalbek and southern Nabatieh, OCHA said.
The toll on the population has been exacerbated by the destruction of critical infrastructure, including healthcare, it added.
In another development, the Lebanese government has accused Israel Defense forces (IDF) of kidnapping Beirut’s Naval officer.
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Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati has asked his Foreign Ministry to submit an urgent complaint to the UN Security Council after Israeli forces kidnapped a Lebanese citizen from the coastal town of Batroun.
The Lebanese government identified the victim as Imad Amhaz, a civilian naval officer, and said he was kidnapped 100 metres (109 yards) from his place of residence.
The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said the abduction took place at dawn on Friday, when heavily armed Israeli forces landed on the beach of Batroun and seized Amhaz. They took him away on speedboats, it reported.
An Israeli military official said its naval forces “apprehended” a “senior operative of Hezbollah”, according to Reuters.
The official said the operative had been transferred to Israeli territory and was being interrogated.