Israel threatens a BAN on the BBC over 'atrocious' Hamas terrorism failure
The BBC has been condemned by the president of Israel over their refusal to call Hamas 'terrorists'
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The BBC has been condemned by the president of Israel over their refusal to call Hamas "terrorists".
A senior Israeli official said the government could take action if the BBC continued "crossing the line in accordance with our laws".
President Isaac Herzog said the decision to refer to Hamas as "militants" is “atrocious" and questioned "what other type of torture do they want before they decide it was a terrorist organisation?”
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed and 199 people have been abducted since Hamas launched their attack on October 7.
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“I feel the BBC’s reporting is atrocious,” Herzog told the Daily Mail.
“The fact that it does not recognise Hamas as a terror organisation requires a complete legal battle and public battle.”
Herzog added that he felt the broadcaster treated other perpetrators carrying out similar acts differently.
The president cited other instances where the BBC has labelled other horrendous events as acts of terror, including the London Bridge, Westminster and Paris attacks.
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Speaking about a crack down on broadcasters, one Israeli official told the Telegraph: "We're a democratic country and we will use all the tools a democratic state has.
"If any broadcast channel uses any terminology we think is crossing the line in accordance with our laws, we will do it."
The official warned broadcasters: "Don't fall into the hands of those terrorists that are pure evil."
A move to ban the BBC from Israel would spark press freedom concerns.
The BBC's London headquarters has been vandalised with red paint last week as the broadcaster faces backlash over their Israel war coveragePAEarlier this week, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the BBC "claims to be impartial and independent" but "they choose to believe a genocidal terrorist organisation" after an explosion at a Gaza hospital killed at least 200 people.
Israel claim the explosion was a result of a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in the enclave.
Israel's military has published what it described as evidence of the Palestinian rocket, rather than one of its own munitions being the cause.
However, terror group Hamas - which controls Gaza - has blamed the blast on Israel.
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