Indian-origin journalist Karishma Patel, who quit as a newsreader in October 2024, has now revealed the reason for her resignation. “The BBC failed Hind Rajab,” she stated. Patel claimed that she had pitched the story of the six-year-old trapped inside a car with the bodies of her murdered relatives – twice – to her team, but the BBC refused to run it. When they eventually did, they used the term “found dead” instead of “murdered” – which many social media users pointed out.
Not just this, the news outlet’s coverage further raised concerns when the article ended with the line, “Israel has previously accused Hamas of using ambulances to transport its weapons and fighters.” This somewhat appeared to many as if the BBC was trying to justify Israel’s action while avoiding a clear conclusion on responsibility.
By the time the BBC published its report, the Israeli military had already killed Hind Rajab, firing 300 rounds at the car while she was still inside. The outlet’s reporting, which one LinkedIn user called “shameful”, came under social media scrutiny after a chilling phone recording of Hind’s final moments went viral on social media.
“They are shooting at us. The tank is next to me,” said a woman.
A man on the other end asked if they were hiding.
“Yes, in the car. We’re next to the tank,” the woman replied.
The man then asked if the family was inside the car. The next thing anyone heard was the occupants of the car screaming as Israeli forces opened fire on them. The sound of gunshots followed.
Hind’s aunt, uncle, and three cousins were killed on the spot. Miraculously, she survived.
Hind then pleaded for help: “Come. Take me. Will you come and take me?”
A woman asked if she wanted her to come and rescue her.
“I’m so scared. Please come. Please call someone to come and take me,” Hind said.
The woman assured Hind that she would be rescued soon.
For over three hours, Hind reportedly made desperate calls to emergency services. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) then dispatched two paramedics to her aid. But, they too fell victim to the violence, as the Israeli army targetted the ambulance, killing the paramedics.
The PRCS later accused Israel of deliberately targeting the ambulance upon its arrival on January 29, despite receiving clearance from the Israeli army. Hind, along with the medics, was shot dead. However, the Israeli military has denied any involvement in the attack, claiming that their forces were not near the vehicle at the time of the incident.
In her column for The Independent, Patel argued that this was not the first time the BBC had failed Palestinian children. She pointed to the network’s decision to pull the documentary “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone” because its 13-year-old narrator was related to a deputy agriculture minister in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas. Patel contended that the BBC could have kept the documentary with a disclaimer but instead chose to remove it altogether, shying away from the message that “Israel’s actions are harming Palestinian children”.
When BBC Director General Tim Davie and Chair Dr Samir Shah were questioned by a UK parliamentary committee over the removal of the documentary, they defended the decision, citing “serious flaws” in its production. Patel argued that while the BBC acknowledged errors in the making of the documentary, it failed to recognise the “overall lack of editorial integrity in covering Gaza”.
“This decision prompted me and more than 1,000 others – including Gary Lineker and Miriam Margolyes – to sign an open letter condemning the move,” she further wrote.
The BBC has yet to respond to former presenter Karishma Patel’s claims.
Patel, who spent five years at the BBC, criticised the organisation for displaying a “shocking level of editorial inconsistency” in its reporting on Gaza.
“I’m about to make a bold claim: truth exists,” she said stressing that “editorial bravery is a key”.
Patel also argued that treating “both sides” of a story as true, even when one side is backed by significant evidence, distorts the truth. “A news outlet that refuses to come to conclusions becomes a vehicle in informational warfare, where bad faith actors flood social media with unfounded claims, creating a post-truth ‘fog’,” Patel further wrote.
Patel asserted that “there’s enough evidence of what Israel has done”, and challenged the BBC directly: “When will the BBC conclude that Israel IS violating international law, and shape its coverage around that truth?”
A Reddit user offered a possible explanation, arguing that although the BBC identifies wrongdoing on Israel’s part, it avoids the “natural conclusion of ‘why does Israel keep blowing up children’” as it would “always run into the territory of discussing Israeli apartheid and genocide”. The user further expressed that the BBC’s coverage of Gaza “is a glaring outlier from their normal coverage”.
Another pleaded, “Please BBC make an article that summarises the death caused by both sides and how it has often been Israel practicing ‘an eye for an eye and an arm and a leg’.” This Redditor feels that BBC’s coverage “makes it like Israel is being unreasonably attacked”.
The ex-BBC presenter ended her piece with a lesson taught in journalism schools: “The journalist’s job isn’t to report that it may or may not be raining. It’s to look outside and tell the public if it is. And let me tell you: there’s a storm.”
Karishma Patel holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature with Creative Writing from Northeastern University London and an MPhil in English Studies: Criticism and Culture from the University of Cambridge. She was recently announced as a finalist in the Miss Universe GB pageant, having previously won the Miss England Hertfordshire crown in 2021.
In her last LinkedIn post five months ago, Patel wrote, “Goodbye to BBC News after four and a half years of news reading, reporting, and producing.”
She continued, “After months of covering Gaza as a Middle East specialist, I’m moving to a non-profit—the Britain Palestine Media Centre—where I’ll take on the role of Senior Social Media Engagement Officer. I’ll be leading social media journalism efforts and supporting news outlets in their coverage of Palestine-related stories.”
At BBC, Patel covered COVID-19 outbreaks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Hindu nationalism in India.