Following weeks of backlash the BBC will reportedly no longer refer to Hamas as “militants” opting instead to describe them as “a proscribed terrorist organisation” or simply “Hamas.”

This shift in policy by the public service broadcaster was announced by the Board of Deputies of British Jews in a press release on Friday, after the group met with BBC Director General Tim Davie and senior team members to convey their concerns.

The press release said: “The BBC confirmed it was committed to continued dialogue. It also confirmed it is no longer BBC practice to call Hamas militants. Instead, the BBC describes the group as a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK government and others, or simply as Hamas.”

Marie van der Zyl, President of the Board of Deputies, shared her sentiments after the meeting, stating: “We emphasised our outrage at the refusal of the BBC to describe Hamas’ barbaric actions as terrorism and the damaging, false report of the rocket which killed innocent civilians.”

“I would like to thank Marie van der Zyl and Michael Wegier for the meeting today. The BBC is committed to continuing dialogue through this period,” said Davie.

The move also comes just one day after Israeli President Isaac Herzog implored Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to pressure the BBC to change its policy.

“I know that in modern democracies, such as ours and yours, you cannot intervene per se,” Herzog said. “But because the BBC has a certain linkage and it is known as Britain as such, all over the world there has to be an outcry so that there will be a correction and Hamas will be defined as a terrorist organisation.”

The BBC’s reluctance to brand Hamas or any other entity as a “terrorist” organisation stems from its editorial guidelines which seek to champion impartiality and objectivity, using descriptive language over assumptive terminology. In recent weeks senior and veteran BBC journalists have come out in defence of the policy amid widespread criticism. At least one Jewish BBC reporter quit over the issue.

Mediaite UK has reached out to the BBC for comment.

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