The BBC has reached a settlement with an Israeli family whose home was filmed without permission days after the 7 October Hamas attacks. The Horenstein family survived the assault when a jammed door prevented militants from entering their safe room.
A BBC news crew, including senior correspondent Jeremy Bowen, entered the wrecked home in southern Israel shortly after the attacks. The family said they were not asked for consent, and at the time, many relatives did not know if they were alive.
Tzeela Horenstein told Jewish News that the unauthorised filming felt like a second intrusion, saying: 'Everything that was still under our control had been taken from us.' The BBC confirmed an agreement was reached but did not comment on the reported £28,000 payment.
The broadcaster has faced other controversies, including a defamation lawsuit from Donald Trump over a 2021 speech edit, and an Ofcom ruling that it failed to disclose a Hamas link in a documentary. The 7 October attacks triggered a devastating war in Gaza, with a fragile ceasefire in place since 10 October.
