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The BBC has dropped its previous commitment to broadcast the Gaza documentary Gaza: Medics Under Fire “as soon as possible”, Byline Times has learnt. It constitutes a shift that comes after weeks of mounting criticism and controversy.
The documentary, produced by Basement Films, captures the harrowing experiences of Palestinian medics working under Israeli bombardment. It has been “fact checked, complied and signed off multiple times within the BBC” according to the filmmakers and yet remains shelved pending an internal review.
Meanwhile on 7 June, Ben de Pear, the former Channel4 news editor and executive on the film, wrote on LinkedIn that “the (film), for the BBC, on the destruction of the Gazan health care system, has been on production for 15 months now and was supposed to be released four months ago. In the months it has been delayed another 500 medics have been killed. Its release has been repeatedly delayed and postponed several times; now indefinitely.”
Until recently, the BBC had insisted that the delay was temporary. In a statement issued in April, the corporation said: “This documentary is a powerful piece of reporting and we will broadcast it as soon as possible. We have taken an editorial decision not to do so while we have an ongoing review into a previous documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.”
However, in a new statement to Byline Times, the BBC removed the phrase “we will broadcast it as soon as possible”. It now reads: “We have taken an editorial decision not to broadcast this documentary while we have an ongoing review into a previous documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. We understand the importance of telling these stories and know that the current process is difficult for those involved.”
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The omission of a timeline or firm commitment to broadcast has raised fresh concerns among supporters of the film, who argue the change signals a retreat from the BBC’s earlier pledge to air it.
The shift comes as the BBC faces growing pressure from both inside and outside the organisation to explain why the film has not been shown.
The decision to delay Gaza: Medics Under Fire has prompted accusations of political censorship. More than 600 figures in the arts and media, including actors Susan Sarandon, Harriet Walter, and Miriam Margolyes, signed an open letter criticising the BBC’s handling of the film.
The letter claims: “Every day this film is delayed, the BBC fails in its commitment to inform the public, fails in its journalistic responsibility to report the truth, and fails in its duty of care to these brave contributors. No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling. This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors’ bravery honoured.”
Basement Films says it is “deeply disappointed” by the BBC’s continued delays.
In a statement, the company said: “We gathered searing testimony from multiple Palestinian doctors and healthworkers who had survived attacks on hospitals and their homes that killed both colleagues and loved ones.
We also spoke to multiple medics who had been detained and testified they had been tortured, and we made solemn undertakings that their stories would be told, and done so as soon as possible
Basement Films
The documentary, which was comp