A UN official has condemned the BBC over its “scandalous” coverage of detained Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya.
Dr Abu Safiya was arrested at the end of 2024 as the Israeli military forced patients and medical staff to leave Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, alleging the facility was a "Hamas terrorist stronghold".
The IDF statement at the time repeated that he was suspected of being a "terrorist" and for "holding a rank" in Hamas – but offered no evidence, with none since forthcoming as the paediatrician has remained detained for 18 months without charge or trial.
Campaigners have continually urged his release while his lawyer has recently said that Dr Abu Safiya is almost unrecognisable because of severe injuries inflicted in Israeli detention and that he faces a “tangible danger to his life”.
Covering this development on Monday, BBC News read out a statement from the Israeli government repeating the claims that Abu Safiya was apprehended for “suspected involvement in Hamas activities” and for “holding rank in Hamas”.
But this move was condemned by Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.
“Scandalous. 18 months in arbitrary detention. No charge. No evidence. Torture attested by his lawyer, marks visible on his body,” she said on Twitter/X in reaction to the clip.
“And instead of covering this, BBC amplifies Israel's unproven claims casting doubt on a hostage doctor. BBC's journalism in the time of genocide.”
Scandalous. 18 months in arbitrary detention. No charge. No evidence. Torture attested by his lawyer, marks visible on his body. And instead of covering this, @BBC amplifies Israel's unproven claims casting doubt on a hostage doctor. >BBC's journalism in the time of genocide. https://t.co/8sx0aNAaB4
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) July 7, 2026
Former BBC journalist Karishma Patel – who left the BBC last October because of its Gaza coverage – also hit out at the coverage.
“For the thousandth time BBC News, you need to tell the public when there’s no evidence behind a claim,” she said.
“Tell us Israel’s response, but caveat it with ‘we have seen no evidence to support this’. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s life is on the line. I am so utterly disgusted and exhausted.”
Edinburgh University professor Nicola Perugini added: “He (the BBC journalist) reads in one breath, without challenge, the Israeli army statement arguing that torturing doctors to death after destroying hospitals is normal because, based on the Israeli military’s fabrications, doctors have helped transform medical facilities into shields for combatants.”
