BBC outrages journalists over claims Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, killed in an Israeli airstrike on his residence in Iran, was a “moderate and pragmatic” man

Although the BBC yesterday described Ismail Haniyeh as “moderate and pragmatic”, the bloodthirsty Hamas terrorist leader was anything but.

As his terrorists crossed the border to rape and murder 1,200 Israelis on October 7, he was seen watching gleefully on television from his luxury apartment in Doha.

Later, referring to the atrocity, he told his followers: “The blood of women, children and the elderly: it is we who need this blood, to awaken the revolutionary spirit in us.”

Born in a refugee camp in Gaza when the area was under Egyptian control in 1963, Haniyeh became a founding member of Hamas. He rose through the ranks and in 1989 was imprisoned by Israel for three years before going into exile in Lebanon.

He returned to Gaza and, when Israel withdrew in 2005, he was the head of the Hamas office in the Strip. Finally, in 2017, he became the head of the political office and moved to Qatar.

But Israel considered him one of the key actors in the October 7 attack and has persecuted his family throughout the war.

When her children were killed last April, she showed little emotion: “May God have mercy on them,” she said.

Since the US did not allow the Israelis to attack while he was on Qatari soil, given that it is an ally, they finally took the opportunity while he was visiting Tehran.

On Monday he was seen shouting “Death to Israel, death to America” ​​in Iran. Less than 12 hours later, he was dead.

A BBC article on Wednesday stated: “Despite his harsh rhetoric, he was widely seen by analysts as moderate and pragmatic, compared with Gaza’s more hardline leaders.”

Earlier yesterday on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, a presenter said: ‘Ismail Haniyeh had been overseeing talks on a new ceasefire agreement and hostage release.

‘Despite his harsh rhetoric, analysts generally regarded him as moderate and pragmatic compared to Gaza’s more hardline leaders.’

Critics last night slammed the BBC for its account of Ismail Haniyeh, which was repeated several times and published online on Wednesday.

Dave Rich, author of ‘Everyday Hate: How antisemitism is built into our world & how you can change it’, said: ‘If Ismail Haniyeh was ‘moderate and pragmatic’ as the mainstream media claims, then that means his open hatred of Jews and repeated calls for the violent destruction of Israel are a ‘moderate and pragmatic’ position.

“And what does that tell us about the situation of Jews today?”

Labour MP Mike Tapp, a former soldier, told The Sun: ‘Ismail Haniyeh was an avowed anti-Semite and the leader of an outlawed genocidal terrorist group that on October 7 carried out the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

“To describe such an individual as ‘moderate and pragmatic’ is grotesque and an absolute disgrace.”

Greg Smith, the Conservative shadow business and trade minister, added: “It is absolutely outrageous that the BBC dares to call a Hamas terrorist chief a moderate.

In what reality can the head of an organization responsible for so much death, sexual violence and hatred be called moderate?

‘Hamas wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and kill Jews simply because they are Jews, but the BBC thinks they are ‘pragmatic’.’

Earlier this year, former Attorney General Sir Michael Ellis said the BBC was “institutionally anti-Semitic” and had inflamed community tensions due to its “biased” reporting on the Gaza conflict.

He also said the broadcaster’s impartiality had been “discredited” by its coverage of Israel and Hamas.

Opening a debate on the issue in Westminster Hall, he warned that the corporation’s reports had “fuelled the terrible rise of anti-Semitism” and “damaged diplomatic efforts to end the violence”.

The incident he was referring to – an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital – was initially reported by the BBC as having been caused by an Israeli air strike.

He later admitted he was wrong after mounting evidence emerged that it was due to a botched rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terror group.

But the dispute sparked a confrontation with Israel and there were suggestions it may have contributed to US President Joe Biden walking out of his Middle East peace summit at the time.

“The BBC has found itself at the centre of increasing controversy in recent years and it is its coverage of the organisation of the war between Israel and Hamas that has led it to completely fail the British public,” said Sir Michael, who is Jewish.

‘A careful review of the BBC’s output shows a clear failure to uphold its obligation of impartiality and, in doing so, BBC News’ broadcast and online content has actively inflamed communal tensions here in the UK, fuelled the appalling rise of antisemitism and, in at least one particularly shocking case, damaged diplomatic efforts to end the violence.’

A BBC spokesman said at the time: “We do not agree with this view, which we reject completely and which is not supported by the facts.”

The Mail Online has contacted the BBC for comment.