Overview

• A BBC spokesman said the staff message “should have been worded differently” and confirmed the text will be edited and replaced on the intranet.
• The internal note marked the two-year anniversary with the phrase “the escalations in the Israel-Gaza conflict” and featured a photo from Gaza rather than Israeli victims.
• Staff reportedly raised concerns, and survivors including Adam Ma’anit and Nova festival survivor Natalie Sanandaji called the language insulting and painful.
• Former BBC television director Danny Cohen criticised the phrasing as “deeply offensive” and described it as an example of institutional bias.
• The message came from the BBC Audiences team; it was understood to have been written by a junior staffer, and a BBC source said the Gaza image reflected current audience-attitudes research.