ITV under fire for interview with reporter who branded Hamas attack as 'resistance'

She blamed the media and politicians for this “narrative.”

But GB News can reveal that Abouchakra is a reporter for banned Iranian channel Press TV and that she described the brutal Hamas terror attacks on October 7 that massacred 1400 people as a “homecoming … from the resistance factions”.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews has condemned ITV News for the interview with Abouchakra and demanded the broadcaster issue a public apology.

Marie Van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, has now written to the ITV News’ chief executive to demand the channel apologise publicly for inviting Abouchakra onto the programme.

In the letter, Van der Zyl wrote that it was an "egregiously incompetent decision" which was "insulting" to both British Jews and British Muslims.

Van der Zyl said: "There has undoubtedly been a significant rise in Islamophobia in this country over the past few weeks. We utterly condemn this despicable hatred."

She added: "ITV’s decision to invite on Ms Abouchakra, however, out of millions of British Muslims, was an astonishingly bad one."

An ITV News spokesman confirmed they were investigating concerns around a contributor on the channel.

In her broadcast for Press TV, Abouchakra described the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists, who include at least 20 children and up to 20 elderly civilians, as “prisoners of war.”

She described Israel as a “Zionist entity shaking with fear” and said that it was “as fragile as a spider’s web”.

Abouchakra was reporting for a Press TV programme called Palestine Declassified, which is presented by disgraced former Labour MP Chris Williamson, who was stripped of his parliamentary pass in February because of his links to the Press TV Channel.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Abouchakra has been a teacher in Ealing since 2015 and was an elected representative for the National Union of Teachers.

She claims to be a “citizenship and PSHE teacher”.

An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “Latifa Abouchakra is not and has never been an Ealing council employee.

“For several years up to 2019, she operated on a freelance basis, but the council does not have a record of her since 2019.

“We want to be absolutely and unequivocally clear that she does not speak for or represent the views of the council in this or any other matter.”

In a video posted to social media, Abouchakra described how she “fell in love” with the National Education Union for “protecting” children from the “horrors” of Prevent, the government’s programme to stop people becoming terrorists.

She also says in the video that teachers must oppose “normalisation of ties with the Zionists” because it is “haram” and a betrayal of God.

A National Education Union spokesperson said: “This person does not hold an elected position in the union and is not an employee of the union.

“We will be looking into the serious issues raised which have just been brought to our attention.”

The union did not confirm or deny that Abouchakra was formerly an international officer for the Ealing branch. It also did not confirm or deny if Abouchakra was still a member of the union.

A spokesman for ITV said: "ITV News London broadcast a report on the rise in hate crime following recent events in the Middle East. "We are investigating concerns that were raised about one contributor following the broadcast."

GB News has approached Abouchakra and Press TV for comment.