BBC Report on Terror Attack in Israel Raises Questions About Balance and Accuracy

Two Israelis were killed and at least three others injured in what Israeli police described as a “rolling terror attack” across northern Israel on December 26th. The attack, which unfolded across multiple locations, began when the assailant ran over a pedestrian in Beit Shean before driving westward to stab a woman near Ein Harod. The perpetrator was eventually shot and wounded by a civilian outside Afula.

Shimshon Mordechai, 68, was killed in the initial ramming attack, which also injured a 16-year-old boy. The stabbing victim was identified as Aviv Maor, 18. According to Israeli media reports not included in the BBC coverage, a 37-year-old man was also moderately wounded near Afula when the same attacker attempted to run him over before crashing into an electric pole. Witnesses described how the attacker then exited his vehicle and attacked the victim with a large rock.

Israeli authorities identified the attacker as Ahmed al-Rub, 37, from Qabatiya in the West Bank, though this information was notably absent from the BBC’s reporting despite being publicly available hours before the final version of their article was published.

The BBC’s coverage, authored primarily by Raffi Berg with additional reporting by Tom McArthur, maintained the word “suspected” in its headline even after the terrorist nature of the incidents had been confirmed. In line with BBC editorial policy, the terms “terror” and “terrorist” appeared only in direct quotes from Israeli sources.

What has drawn particular criticism is the BBC’s decision to dedicate a significant portion of the report—four out of fifteen paragraphs—to an unrelated incident from the previous day, in which an Israeli army reservist was fired after video emerged showing him ramming a Palestinian man with a quad bike during prayer. The Palestinian man was reportedly uninjured in that incident.

At the same time, the BBC report made no mention of a vehicular attack that occurred on the same day as the fatal attack in northern Israel, in which four Israeli soldiers were injured in the West Bank.

The closing paragraphs of the BBC report have also raised concerns about potential mischaracterization of regional violence. The article states: “Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have surged in the West Bank in recent years, according to the United Nations, with more than a thousand killed since the Hamas attacks on Israel of 7 October 2023.” This phrasing could mislead readers to believe that Israeli settlers were responsible for all Palestinian deaths, when security officials indicate that most casualties occurred during exchanges of fire with Israeli security forces, violent riots, or during attempted terrorist attacks.

The report concludes by citing Hamas-run health ministry figures that “more than 70,600 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza” since October 7, 2023, but omits any mention of Israeli military casualties in Gaza during the same period.

This reporting follows a pattern of coverage that critics argue fails to provide complete context regarding the security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) has documented over 11,000 terror attacks between October 2023 and December 2025, with more than 2,300 additional attacks thwarted by security forces. During this period, 77 Israelis—45 civilians and 32 security personnel—were killed in attacks.

The article’s omissions and editorial choices highlight ongoing debates about balanced coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in international media.