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The BBC Is Promoting Hezbollah’s Narrative in Lebanon — Not the Truth
The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
On April 1, the BBC News website published a report credited to Hugo Bachega in Beirut and Emma Rossiter in London, which currently goes under the headline “Four killed in Israeli strike on Beirut, Lebanon says, despite ceasefire”.
As the text of the report shows, the BBC could have worded its headline in a way that informed readers that two of the “four killed” were Hezbollah operatives. Notably, the BBC chose not to do so: [emphasis added]
An Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs has killed a Hezbollah official and three other people, Lebanon’s health ministry says, putting further pressure on a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group.
The strike also injured seven people, the health ministry said.
The attack was the second on the Dahieh area, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, in recent days, despite the truce that came into force in November.
The Israeli military said it had targeted Hassan Bdeir, who it alleged had helped Hamas plan an attack against Israeli civilians.
Hezbollah confirmed Bdeir had been killed along with his son, who was also a member of the group.
Further on in the report, readers are told that:
Later, Hezbollah issued a brief statement that confirmed the deaths of Bdeir, who it described as a “commander”, and his son, Ali.
Contrary to the BBC’s claim, the “fragile ceasefire” which came into effect in November 2024 was signed by Israel and Lebanon rather than by Israel and “the Lebanese armed group” — as the BBC euphemistically chooses to describe the widely designated Hezbollah terrorist organization.
The BBC’s explanation of the background to the strike which took place in the early hours of April 1 is based entirely on a statement put out by Israeli security forces:
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Israel Security Agency (ISA) and Mossad spy agency said in a statement that the military conducted a strike in the Dahieh that killed Hassan Bdeir.
They said Bdeir had “recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them in planning a significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians”.
“Due to the immediate threat” posed, they added, Israeli forces “acted to eliminate him and removed the threat”. The statement did not give details about the alleged threat, and indicated that the Israeli military would continue to carry out attacks in Lebanon.
Remarkably, Bachega and Rossiter erased from audience view the part of that statement noting that Bdeir was “a terrorist in Hezbollah’s Unit 3900 and the Iranian Quds Force,” and they did not provide BBC audiences with any further relevant information in their own words.
As reported at the Alma Center:
According to the IDF spokesman’s statement, he [Bdeir] operated under Unit 3900, a joint unit of Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force. Their main mission is to cooperate with Palestinian terrorist organizations to carry out terrorist activities against Israeli targets and interests in Israel and around the world (similar to Units 910 and 133) and to provide financial support, knowledge, and means. In addition to operations in various countries around the world, one of its main theaters of operation is Judea and Samaria.
Ynet reported that: “According to Israeli intelligence, Bdeir played a central role in a joint terror network involving both Hezbollah and Hamas operatives […] The network was reportedly planning an imminent large-scale attack abroad, which officials said could have killed hundreds of Israelis had it been carried out.”
Nevertheless, already in the opening paragraph of their report, Bachega and Rossiter chose to frame the strike eliminating a terrorist planning an imminent attack as “putting further pressure on a fragile ceasefire.”
The BBC journalists also promote statements along the same lines from Lebanese officials who have so far failed to fully implement the terms of the ceasefire and from a member of Hezbollah:
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike, calling it a dangerous warning.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said it was a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire. […]
During a visit to the scene of the strike, Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar said the group was exercising “utmost patience and restraint”, but warned that “this patience has limits”.
As documented at The Long War Journal, additional Hezbollah parliamentarians made similar statements.
Interestingly, it was that Hezbollah narrative portraying Israeli counter-terrorism operations as endangering the ceasefire — rather than the activities of terrorists planning a mass casualty attack — that Bachega and Rossiter chose to amplify in their report.
Hadar Sela is the co-editor of CAMERA UK — an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post The BBC Is Promoting Hezbollah’s Narrative in Lebanon — Not the Truth first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.