BBC puts new Gaza film on hold amid bias row
A new BBC Gaza documentary is facing an 'indefinite' delay until a review into a controversial film with links to Hamas has been completed.
The programme, provisionally titled Gaza: Medics Under Fire, follows Palestinian doctors and health-care workers in the war zone, and had been due to air in February.
However, it was pulled after a previous film on Gaza was found to have been narrated by the son of a Hamas government minister.
The contentious documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, featured Abdullah al-Yazouri as its teenage narrator, but did not disclose his family's links to the proscribed terror group.
The BBC removed the film from iPlayer amid a backlash, admitting 'serious flaws' in its production, and announced an internal investigation.
The review will look at errors including the payment of £790 by an independent production company, Hoyo Films, to the boy's family.
It has now emerged that the investigation has led to a separate documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire, being put on hold.
The film's production company, Basement Films, expressed frustration that its work could be affected by the scandal.
The company, which is not linked to the film under investigation, said it was 'deeply disappointed' with the 'repeated and indefinite delays'.
The documentary includes interviews with Palestinian doctors who survived attacks on hospitals, with some claiming to have been detained and tortured.
'We are desperate for a confirmed release date in order to be able to tell the surviving doctors and medics when their stories will be told,' the production company added.
The BBC said that it would show the film 'as soon as possible' after its review into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone had finished, but it has not set a date.
A spokesman for the corporation said: 'This documentary is a powerful piece of reporting and we will broadcast it as soon as possible. We have taken an editorial decision not to do so while we have an ongoing review into a previous documentary.
Basement Films is run by Ben de Pear, a former editor at Channel 4 News, who has won Emmy and Bafta awards for his work.
The Times reported that one BBC insider claimed the fallout from the first film had left bosses 'terrified' of showing anything about Gaza, but that others were reportedly relieved that it had been held back.
'The BBC has already done a lot about the suffering of Gazans because of Israel's actions,' the insider told The Times.
The review is being led by Peter Johnston, the BBC's editorial complaints chief. He has interviewed staff and the team behind Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, but The Times reported that legal issues have slowed its progress.
Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, has told Dr Samir Shah, the BBC chairman, that it will step in if not satisfied with the internal investigation.
It comes after The Telegraph revealed that the BBC is to appoint an independent figure to investigate allegations of anti-Semitism on its Arabic channel.
On Saturday, Dr Shah also suggested the corporation's wider reporting on the Israel-Gaza conflict would now be reviewed.
Speaking to Times Radio, he said: 'The Arabic service, we are looking at it, we've been examining it. I think this whole business of how we've covered Israel-Gaza is a proper thing to examine thoroughly, which is why we're going to identify... we're going to get hold of an independent figure to look at our coverage.'
BBC sources said a 'thematic review' of its reporting on the Middle East conflict will be 'independent and published in full' for presentation to the board.
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