‘Hamas chief’s son’ featured in BBC documentary blasted for spouting terror group ‘propaganda’ had previously appeared on Channel 4 criticising Israel – as antisemitism group blasts ‘misinformation promoted as fact’

A boy claimed to be the son of a Hamas chief who was featured in a controversial BBC documentary had previously appeared on Channel 4 where he criticised Israel.  

The BBC has been forced to apologised by campaigners after a documentary about Palestinian children living in war-torn Gaza starred the son of a Hamas government minister.

The broadcaster failed to disclose that the film’s narrator – a 14-year-old English-speaking boy named Abdullah – was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who currently holds the position of deputy minister of agriculture.

In an email exchange via the BBC, Abdullah reportedly said he wanted to be part of the documentary, which was made by Hoyo Films, ‘to explain the suffering that people here in Gaza witness with the language that the world understands, English.’

He is also said to have asked to be involved to help viewers learn about the situation on the ground without being ‘blurred by misinformation’.

Now it has been revealed that Abdullah previously appeared in a Channel 4 news item broadcast in November 2023, in which he is seen speaking about the devastation Israeli bombing has done to a Gaza neighbourhood.

He appears in the clip alongside a man presented as his father, who is now understood to be his uncle, Khalil Abu Shamala. 

Shamala is reported to be the ex-director of an NGO called Al Dameer, which campaigns on behalf of Palestinian fighters jailed by Israel, and allegedly has links to a group designated a terror organisation by the US.

Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was broadcast on Monday on BBC Two with the aim of showing a ‘vivid and unflinching view of life’ in the strip

The BBC documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was broadcast on Monday on BBC Two with the aim of showing a ‘vivid and unflinching view of life’ in the enclave

The broadcaster failed to disclose that the film’s narrator – a 14-year-old English-speaking boy named Abdullah – was the son of Ayman Alyazouri (pictured), who currently holds the position of deputy minister of agriculture

The boy appears in the clip alongside a man presented as his father, who is now understood to be his uncle, Khalil Abu Shamala

The BBC documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was broadcast on Monday on BBC Two with the aim of showing a ‘vivid and unflinching view of life’ in the strip.

It was made by two producers based in London who remotely directed two cameramen on the ground over nine months.

Last night, independent investigative journalist David Collier claimed one of the child narrators, Abdullah, is the son of a Hamas government minister and grandson of one of Hamas’s founding members. 

Using Facebook and publicly available data online, Mr Collier claimed the show’s young star is the son of Gaza’s deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri.

This would mean his grandfather would be the Hamas founder Ibrahim al-Yazouri, who has previously been jailed by Egypt and Israel for involvement in proscribed groups.

The Daily Mail has not been able to independently verify Mr Collier’s claims. 

He also says one of the documentary’s cameramen, Amjad Al Fayoumi, posted the phrase ‘the flood’ with a saluting emoji on Facebook on October 7, 2023, seemingly endorsing the attack.

One of the child narrators in BBC documentary ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ is 13-year-old Abdulla Eliyazour (pictured)

It is claimed the youngster’s grandfather is the founder of Hamas, Ibrahim al-Yazouri (pictured)

Writing on his blog, Mr Collier said: ‘The naivety, stupidity and arrogance of our media has long been apparent. 

‘It has allowed Palestinian propagandists to turn our legacy channels into foolish outlets blindly spouting Hamas lies 24/7.’ 

Last night, the former director of BBC Television Danny Cohen said: ‘The BBC appears to have given an hour of prime-time coverage to the son of a senior member of the Hamas terrorist group.

‘Either they were not aware of the terrorist links because they did not carry out the most basic journalistic checks or the BBC did know and misled audiences about the family’s deep involvement with terrorism.’

A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism added: ‘If these allegations are true then the BBC has essentially published long-form propaganda for an antisemitic genocidal terror organisation with licence-fee funds.’

The campaign group Labour Against Antisemitism lodged a formal complaint to the BBC, claiming that the team failed to properly vet the documentary’s subjects.

The group’s director Alex Hearn said: ‘This documentary appears to have been a failure of due diligence by the BBC, with Hamas propaganda promoted as reliable fact at the taxpayers’ expense.

‘There needs to be an urgent investigation into how this happened once again.

‘Misinformation is the story of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and this is not an isolated case. There has been a failure of news platforms to adequately scrutinise sources and a willingness to regurgitate Hamas disinformation repeatedly.’ 

Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was broadcast on Monday on BBC Two with the aim of showing a ‘vivid and unflinching view of life’ in the strip (Pictured: BBC headquarters)

Using Facebook and publicly available data online, Mr Collier claimed the show’s young star is the son of Gaza’s deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri

Investigative journalist David Collier claimed one of the child narrators is the son of a Hamas government minister. The Daily Mail has not been able to independently verify Mr Collier’s claims

Since the allegations were made, the BBC has apologised for the inclusion of the documentary’s young star. 

A spokesperson for the corporation said: ‘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.

‘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.’ 

The BBC said the new text attached to the film: ‘The narrator of this film is 13 year old Abdullah. His father has worked as a deputy agriculture minister for the Hamas-run government in Gaza. The production team had full editorial control of filming with Abdullah.’

‘We followed all of our usual compliance procedures in the making of this film, but we had not been informed of this information by the independent producers when we complied and then broadcast the finished film,’ the statement added.

‘The film remains a powerful child’s eye view of the devastating consequences of the war in Gaza which we believe is an invaluable testament to their experiences, and we must meet our commitment to transparency.’

MailOnline has contacted Hoyo Films for comment. 

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