‘Not the BBC’s finest hour’: Minister slams coverage of Gaza hospital explosion as broadcaster admits its controversial report had flaws

• Tugendhat said the report had ‘real costs’ on the Today programme yesterday 

The BBC has admitted a controversial report about the cause of the Gaza hospital explosion was flawed as a minister said it was not the corporation’s ‘finest hour’.

In the immediate aftermath of the blast, correspondent Jon Donnison said it was ‘hard to see’ what else it could be other than an ‘Israeli air strike’.

Despite this claim, growing evidence has emerged that the explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City was caused by Islamic Jihad.

Minister for security Tom Tugendhat singled out the report when he appeared on the Today programme yesterday, saying it had been ‘really serious’ and had ‘real costs’. He even implied it could have contributed to Joe Biden abandoning his Middle East peace summit. He added: ‘This was not the BBC’s finest hour.’

Minister for security Tom Tugendhat singled out the report when he appeared on the Today programme yesterday, saying it had been ‘really serious’ and had ‘real costs’

The BBC admitted a controversial report about the cause of the Gaza hospital explosion was flawed as a minister said it was not the corporation’s ‘finest hour’

Last night following huge criticism, the corporation issued a statement on the ‘Corrections and Clarifications’ page of its website, which admitted ‘it was wrong to speculate in this way’.

The BBC is already facing huge criticism over its refusal to call Hamas fighters terrorists, even though it is classified as a terrorist group by the Government. This comes as Downing Street said Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer had spoken to BBC director-general Tim Davie ‘on a number of occasions in the past week’.

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