The BBC has reached a settlement with an Israeli family whose home was filmed without permission by a BBC News crew in the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks.
Journalists, including BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen, entered the family’s severely damaged home in the Gaza-border village of Netiv HaAsara days after the attack and filmed inside the property. Footage reportedly included personal photographs of the family’s children, at a time when relatives and friends were still unsure whether the family had survived.
The incident was first reported by Jewish News. According to the report, the BBC agreed to pay the family a £28,000 financial settlement.
In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said the corporation does not usually comment on individual legal matters but confirmed it was “pleased to have reached an agreement” in this case.
Tzeela Horenstein, who lives in the home with her husband Simon and their two young children, said Hamas gunmen threw a grenade at her husband during the early-morning assault on 7 October. The family survived only because their door jammed after being damaged by explosives, preventing the attackers from entering.
Speaking to Jewish News, Horenstein said the BBC’s actions compounded the trauma of the attack.
“Not only did terrorists break into our home and try to murder us, but then the BBC crew entered again, this time with a camera as a weapon, without permission or consent,” she said. “It was another intrusion into our lives. We felt that everything that was still under our control had been taken from us.”
The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Since then, more than 71,260 people have been killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.
