Complaint
A listener complained that a question during an interview on this programme which referred to a death toll in Gaza of up to 25,000 Palestinians “compared to 200 Israeli deaths” inaccurately reflected the number of Israelis killed in the conflict. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The interview, with a senior advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister, followed news of the deaths of a number of young Israeli reservists in Gaza. It did not touch on the events of 7 October, but was restricted to the ground offensive in Gaza, focusing particularly on the reaction in Israel to the most recent deaths. Listeners in general would therefore have understood the figure of 200 as a reference to the number of Israelis killed in Gaza, and not as including those killed within Israel by Hamas on 7 October. The ECU therefore found no breach of the BBC’s standards of accuracy.
Not Upheld