GB News star Josh Howie rips into BBC over 'biased' anti-Israel reporting: 'Beyond satire'

The excerpt highlighted by Mr Howie stated: “The BBC has risked fresh allegations of bias after describing Palestinian uprisings in which thousands of people were killed as ‘largely unarmed and popular’.”

Sharing the image, the presenter wrote: “It’s beyond satire now. The murder of over 1,000 Jews totally erased by @BBCNews, along with the depraved indiscriminate nature of the attacks.”

His post prompted a wave of reaction from supporters in the comments.

One user wrote: “It really is getting beyond a joke. Why should we be forced to pay for this? They’re just rubbing it in our faces.”

Another added: “It’s heartbreaking to see such tragedies overlooked. Our shared history teaches us the importance of remembering every life lost.”

A third commented: “It still makes no sense without the context of the countless suicide attacks. You’d think from their description that no one died.”

However, not all responses were supportive. One user challenged the presenter, writing: “What do you have to say about the murder of countless Palestinian people?”

The Telegraph report details how the BBC was accused of pro-Palestinian bias after describing the first intifada as “largely unarmed and popular”, without referencing the thousands of deaths caused by violence on both sides of the conflict.

Following complaints, the broadcaster amended its wording to state that some regard the term “intifada” as a call for violence against Jewish people.

Critics, including former BBC Television director Danny Cohen, described the original phrasing as offensive and indicative of an ongoing anti-Israel bias within the corporation.

It’s beyond satire now. The murder of over a 1000 Jews totally erased by @BBCNews, along with the depraved indiscriminate nature of the attacks. pic.twitter.com/rKNTiHaRMt

— Josh Howie (@joshxhowie) December 17, 2025

The controversy is the latest in a series of accusations levelled at the BBC over its Middle East coverage.

In 2024, a major study led by British-Israeli lawyer Trevor Asserson used artificial intelligence to analyse nine million words of BBC output.

The report claimed the broadcaster breached its own editorial guidelines more than 1,500 times during the first four months of the conflict.

Among its findings, Israel was reportedly associated with the term “genocide” 14 times more frequently than Hamas.

The BBC was also widely criticised for initially refusing to label Hamas as “terrorists”, opting instead for the term “militants”.

The study further accused international editor Jeremy Bowen of “excusing Hamas terrorist activity” and drawing comparisons between Israel and Russia.

In November 2025, an internal memo from former BBC independent editorial adviser Tim Prescott warned of a “desire always to believe the worst about Israel” among some BBC staff.

The dossier also alleged that BBC Arabic output was designed to minimise Israeli suffering and portray Israel as the aggressor, while claims against Israel were “raced to air” without sufficient verification.

That same month, another study found BBC headlines were three times more likely to be critical of Israel than of Hamas, noting that references to Hamas war crimes appeared only once, compared with 45 mentions of Israeli genocide or famine.

The BBC has consistently rejected claims of bias, stating it receives a broadly equal number of complaints from both sides of the conflict.

While the reports above allege pro-Palestinian bias, other organisations, including the Centre for Media Monitoring, have accused the broadcaster of systemic pro-Israel bias, arguing it prioritises Israeli perspectives and uses more emotive language when reporting on Israeli victims.