The BBC has reached a financial settlement with a Jewish family who survived the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, after a news crew filmed inside their devastated home without consent.
A Family's Trauma Compounded
The incident involved a BBC crew, which included the corporation's senior international correspondent Jeremy Bowen, entering the home of Tzeela and Simon Horenstein in the days following the deadly assaults. The family, along with their two young children, had survived the attack when a door militants tried to blast open twisted and jammed.
At the time the footage was captured, many of the Horensteins' friends and relatives were still unaware if they were alive. Tzeela Horenstein told the Jewish News that the crew's actions felt like a second violation. She stated that after militants tried to murder them, "the BBC crew entered again, this time with a camera as a weapon, without permission or consent."
She added that this "intrusion" left the family feeling as though everything still within their control had been stripped away.
Terms of the Settlement
While the BBC does not typically comment on specific legal matters, a spokesperson confirmed on Friday that an agreement had been reached. According to reports from the Jewish News, the broadcaster agreed to pay the Horenstein family £28,000 in relation to the incident.
"While we do not generally comment on specific legal issues we are pleased to have reached an agreement in this case," the BBC spokesperson said.
Broader Context of BBC Scrutiny
This settlement arrives amid a period of significant scrutiny regarding the BBC's editorial and reporting standards on sensitive issues.
In October 2023, the UK media regulator, Ofcom, ruled against the broadcaster over a documentary that featured a narrator who was later revealed to be the son of a Hamas official. Ofcom stated the BBC's failure to disclose this link was "a significant source of deception," fuelling accusations of bias.
Furthermore, in November, the BBC's Director General, Tim Davie, announced his resignation following controversy over the editing of a speech by former US President Donald Trump from January 2021. President Trump has since filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC, seeking $10bn in damages.
The 7 October attacks by Hamas triggered a devastating war in Gaza. A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been in place since 10 October.
