Anger as BBC say Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was assassinated in 'Israeli' airstrike on his residence in Iran was a 'moderate and pragmatic' man

While Ismail Haniyeh was described as 'moderate and pragmatic' by the BBC yesterday, the bloodthirsty Hamas terror leader was anything but.

As his terrorists poured over the border to rape and slaughter 1,200 Israelis on October 7, he was seen watching gleefully on a TV from his luxury apartment in Doha.

Later, referring to the atrocity, he told his followers: 'The blood of the women, the children and the elderly – we are the ones who need this blood, so it awakens within us the revolutionary spirit.'

Born in a refugee camp in Gaza while it was under Egyptian control in 1963, Haniyeh became a founding member of Hamas. Rising through the ranks, he was jailed by Israel for three years in 1989 before being exiled to Lebanon.

He returned to Gaza and by the time Israel withdrew in 2005 he was head of the Hamas office in the strip. He finally became leader of the political bureau in 2017 and moved to Qatar. 

But Israel considered him one of the key players in the October 7 attack and has hunted down his family throughout the war.

When his sons were killed last April, he showed little emotion. 'May God have mercy on them,' he said.

As the US would not allow the Israelis to strike while he was on Qatari soil, given it is an ally, they finally took their chance while he visited Tehran.

He was seen chanting 'Death to Israel, death to America' in Iran on Monday. Less than 12 hours later, he was dead.

A BBC article stated on Wednesday: 'Despite his tough rhetoric, he was generally seen by analysts as moderate and pragmatic, compared to the more hardline Gaza-based leaders.'

On the BBC Radio Four Today Programme earlier yesterday, a presenter stated: 'Ismail Haniyeh had been overseeing talks on a new ceasefire and hostage release deal. 

'Despite his tough rhetoric he was generally seen by analysts as moderate and pragmatic compared to the more hardline Gaza-based leaders.'

Last night, critics slated the BBC for their account of Ismail Haniyeh, which was repeated multiple times on and published online on Wednesday.

Dave Rich, author of 'Everyday Hate: How antisemitism is built into our world & how you can change it' said: 'If Ismail Haniyeh was 'moderate and pragmatic' as every media outlet claims, that means his open Jew-hate and repeated calls for the violent destruction of Israel are a 'moderate and pragmatic' position to hold. 

'And what does that tell us about the status of Jews today.' 

Labour MP Mike Tapp, a former solider, told The Sun: 'Ismail Haniyeh was a dedicated antisemite and the leader of a proscribed, genocidal terrorist group which on 7 October perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

'To describe such an individual as ‘moderate and pragmatic’ is grotesque and an absolute disgrace.'

Greg Smith, Conservative Shadow Business and Trade Minister, added: 'It’s absolutely outrageous for the BBC to dare call a Hamas terror chief moderate.

'In what reality can the head of an organisation responsible for so much death, sexual violence and hate be called moderate?

'Hamas want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and kill Jewish people simply because they are Jewish, yet the BBC think they’re ‘pragmatic’.'

Earlier this year, former attorney general Sir Michael Ellis said that the BBC was 'institutionally anti-Semitic' and has inflamed community tensions due to its 'biased' reporting of the Gaza conflict. 

He also said that the broadcaster's impartiality had been brought into 'disrepute' over its coverage of Israel and Hamas.

Opening a Westminster Hall debate on the subject, he warned that the corporation's reporting had 'fuelled the appalling rise of anti-Semitism' and 'harmed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the violence'.

The incident he was referring to – an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital – was initially reported by the BBC as being caused by an Israeli air strike.

It later admitted it was wrong after growing evidence emerged that it was due to a failed rocket launch by terrorist group Islamic Jihad.

But the dispute sparked a row with Israel, and there were suggestions it could have contributed to US President Joe Biden abandoning his Middle East peace summit at the time.

'The BBC has found itself at the centre of ever-increasing controversy in recent years and it is the organisation's coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, which has led it to comprehensively fail the British public,' said Sir Michael, who is Jewish.

'A careful review of BBC output shows a clear failure to uphold its obligation to impartiality and, in doing so, BBC News's broadcasting and online content has actively inflamed community tensions here in the UK, fuelled the appalling rise in anti-Semitism, and in one particularly shocking case at least, harmed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the violence.'

A BBC spokesman said at the time: 'We don't agree with this opinion which we reject entirely and is not borne out by the facts.' 

The Mail Online has reached out to the BBC for comment.