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UK Lawyers Report BBC to Counterterrorism Police for Possible Payments to Hamas
A Palestinian Hamas terrorist shakes hands with a child as they stand guard as people gather on the day of the handover of Israeli hostages, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
An organization of lawyers who support Israel in the United Kingdom has reported the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and two film producers from a London-based production company to counterterrorism police for possible terrorism offenses, which include allegedly giving money to the family of a senior Hamas official.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) announced on Monday that it submitted the reports in connection to the documentary “Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone,” which the BBC screened on Feb. 17 and produced alongside Hoyo Films. It was recently revealed that the film’s Palestinian narrator, 14-year-old Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is the son of Hamas Deputy Minister of Agriculture Dr. Ayman Al-Yazouri. The BBC admitted last week that Hoyo Films made licensing fee payments to the family of the film’s narrator, knowing that he was the son of a Hamas official.
“It is amazing that the BBC thought it could treat anti-terrorism legislation with such disdain and ignore its obligations to report its suspicions to the police,” said UKLFI Director Caroline Turner in a released statement. “Not only did the BBC fail to carry out its own investigations into the family connections of the child, as it has admitted in its statement, it also failed to inform the police of its suspicions, and allow the police to investigate, as it was obliged to do.”
A spokesperson for BBC said Hoyo Films failed to tell the corporation in advance about Abdullah’s family connection to Hamas, even though the BBC asked “a number of times” about any potential ties the child narrator and his family might have with the US- and UK-designated terrorist organization. Investigative journalist David Collier discovered that the younger Al-Yazouri and his father are also related to Hamas founder Ibrahim Al-Yazouri.
“During the production process, the independent production company was asked in writing a number of times by the BBC about any potential connections he and his family might have with Hamas,” the BBC said. “Since transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy’s father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact. It was then the BBC’s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.”
UKLFI noted that because the BBC asked Hoyo Films repeatedly about any potential ties the film’s narrator had to Hamas, “it was clear that the BBC had suspicions that its money may be used for funding terrorism.” What that in mind, the British association of lawyers reported the BBC to counterterrorism police for “being concerned or entering into an arrangement whereby money is made available to another, and they have reasonable concerns that it will be or may be used for the purposes of terrorism,” which is an offense according to the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000.
UKLFI also reported BBC for a second offense.
“If a person believes or suspects another person has committed an offence of entering an arrangement to pay money which may be used for terrorism, in the course of their business, they have a duty to disclose this to the police according to Section 19 of the Terrorism Act of 2000,” UKLFI explained. “It is an offence not to disclose it. Since it is unlikely that the BBC reported their suspicions to the police, UKLFI has also reported the BBC for this Section 19 offence.”
Turner said the BBC “has either been duped by the Hamas propaganda machine or has co-operated with it – or both.”
“We hope that if the BBC is found to have breached counter-terrorism law, the police will treat the BB’’s executives like any other criminal, and will prosecute it accordingly,” she added.
UKFLI also reported the documentary’s two film producers from Hoyo Films to counterterrorism police for possible terrorism offenses and for violating the UK’s Fraud Act of 2006. The producers are being accused of fraud for false representation and “by failing to disclose information to another person where there is a legal duty to disclose the information.”
The post UK Lawyers Report BBC to Counterterrorism Police for Possible Payments to Hamas 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.