David Cameron has urged the BBC to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, reviving an accusation that the corporation shies away from a valid description of the Islamist group that is holding Israeli hostages.
The UK foreign secretary told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the organisation should reconsider its guidelines in light of a video released by Hamas showing the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell, who the group said had died in Gaza.
Hamas released a statement on Saturday saying the 51-year-old had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike a month ago. The video showed him with a black eye.
Cameron said on Sunday that he was unable to give any updates on Popplewell’s fate while the Foreign Office investigated what had happened.
He said: “Like everyone else, I watched the video on Twitter, X, last night, put out by Hamas of Nadav answering a question as to who he was. And I watched that video and you just think, what callous people they are to do that, to play with the family’s emotions in that way.”
He said he had met Popplewell’s family and knew what “heartbreak they’ve been going through for over 200 days”. He added: “And when you see what Hamas are prepared to do, you just realise the terrible, dreadful, inhuman people, frankly, that we are dealing with.
“Maybe it’s a moment actually for the BBC to ask itself again, shall we describe these people as terrorists? They are terrorists.”
The BBC calls Hamas a proscribed terrorist organisation, but has been reluctant to go further for fear it could be seen to be taking sides in the conflict.
In a statement after meeting the Board of Deputies of British Jews in October the BBC said it “does not … use the word terrorist without attributing it, nor do we ban words”.
It added that “for some days we had not been using ‘militant’ as a default description for Hamas, as we have been finding this a less accurate description for our audiences as the situation evolves”.
Popplewell was captured with his mother from her home in the Nirim kibbutz during Hamas’s 7 October incursion in southern Israel, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. His brother was killed. His mother was released during a temporary ceasefire in November.
The campaign group described him as “generous and kind” and an avid reader of science-fiction novels.
A BBC spokesperson said: “No one consuming BBC News can be left unaware of the horrific nature of Hamas’ acts.
“We’ve made our longstanding position on this matter very clear . We use the word ‘terrorist’ when it is attributed to others, such as the UK government.”
