‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack’ wins BAFTA; Team criticises BBC

By Bukola Hameed

The team behind the documentary “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack”, which had previously been shelved by the BBC⁠ over concerns related to impartiality, won an award at the BAFTA Television Awards on Sunday, May 10. During their acceptance speech, the filmmakers used the moment to criticise both Israel and the BBC.

British journalist Ramita Navai, who reported on the documentary, and executive producer Ben De Pear addressed the audience after the film won the Current Affairs category during the ceremony.

Navai described the recognition as deeply significant for the team. She then made a series of allegations regarding the situation in Gaza Strip, claiming that Israel had killed more than 47,000 women and children, targeted hospitals across the territory, and killed over 1,700 Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers.

She also alleged that more than 400 medical workers had been detained, referring to the situation as “medicide,” a term she said was used by the UN.

According to Navai, the findings were contained in their investigation, which she said had been funded by the BBC but was ultimately not broadcast. She concluded by saying the team would not be silenced or censored.

De Pear, in his remarks, dedicated the award to two journalists who worked on the ground to help produce the documentary under what he described as extremely dangerous conditions. He said they operated amid ongoing violence that had reportedly killed more than 250 journalists in Gaza.

He ended his speech by directly addressing the BBC, which was scheduled to air the BAFTA TV Awards on a delayed broadcast later that evening.

Looking into the camera, he questioned whether, after declining to air the documentary, the broadcaster would also remove their acceptance speech from the televised programme.