In responding to the complaint, BBC News had already acknowledged that it would have been better if the phrase “counter-terrorism operation” had been specifically attributed to the IDF, and the ECU agreed.  In this instance, however, it did not believe that either the absence of attribution or the lack of reference to the International Court of Justice ruling resulted in a breach of standards.  A longer item in the previous evening’s 10pm bulletin was introduced as follows: “At least nine people have died in the biggest Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank for 20 Years.  Last month the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s continued occupation of the area, captured in 1967, breached international law.  Violence has been increasing in the West Bank since the Hamas attacks of October the seventh, with the UN saying more than 650 Palestinians have been killed and that there’s been violence against Israelis.  This latest massive operation involved Israeli forces simultaneously entering the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus and Tubas, in what the defence forces called a counter-terrorism strike”.  Taking this together with the overall context of the BBC’s coverage of the conflict, the ECU did not think it likely that viewers in general would have understood the unattributed use of “counter-terrorism operation” or the lack of reference to the International Court of Justice ruling in a brief update as a reflection of pro-Israeli  bias.

Not upheld