The BBC’s tactic of ‘subtle genocide denial’ over Gaza

Three years into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the BBC is still using a tactic one expert calls “subtle genocide denial”.

The BBC and the dark art of genocide propaganda

The Canary has long reported on the BBC‘s consistent pro-Israel propaganda. A key part of this is distracting people from the crimes of the settler-colonial apartheid state by turning focus onto Hamas. And the broadcaster  continues to do this. As Saul Staniforth highlighted on 2 July, BBC reporter Lucy Williamson:

We’ve been speaking to some of the 15,000 people that Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says…

The context was that 300 people have died in Gaza while waiting for treatment abroad because Israel has systematically destroyed the occupied territory’s health system. 15,000 more people, meanwhile, are still waiting for care. And Israeli occupation forces are stopping sufficient medicine and health equipment from getting in.

But Williamson, who previously suggested Israeli attacks on Lebanon were somehow “a path to peace“, had to add in an element of doubt and distraction by mentioning Hamas.

"… our M/E correspondent Lucy Williamson has been working with the BBC team in Gaza to look at some of those stories.. tell us about what people are saying"

"We've been speaking to some of the 15,000 people that Gazas Hamas run health ministry says.."

How to sell a genocide. https://t.co/HjdpLPcs4P pic.twitter.com/VFi2612dul

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) July 2, 2026

Staniforth linked another video to this reminder of the BBC‘s pro-Israel propaganda. The speaker – Adam H. Johnson – wrote How to Sell a Genocide. In this book, he demonstrated:

US corporate media’s role in enabling—and, at times, directly inciting—one of the most devastating campaigns of mass killing in modern memory.

And part of this, he said in the video, is mentioning Hamas when it’s unnecessary to do so. This is “subtle genocide denial”, he stressed, because it calls into question the reliability of statistics or statements that would otherwise be very clearly damning for Israel. This tactic aims to “belittle and downplay” Israel’s crimes, he argued.

This kind of language (saying ‘Hamas-run’ or ‘Hamas-controlled’), academic Des Freedman insisted previously:

serves one purpose: to discredit Palestinian perspectives.

The BBC never suggests doubt in the same way when sharing information from Israel’s government of wanted war criminals, of course. That’s because, as it has shown through its consistently awful coverage during the genocide, its bosses have clearly chosen a side. And that means doing its best to sell a vile settler-colonial genocide.

Featured image via the Canary