Journalists have accused  the BBC of failing to tell the story of the Israel-Palestine war fairly in a strongly worded letter to broadcaster Al-Jazeera.

The 2,300-word letter was written to Al Jazeera by eight UK-based journalists employed by the corporation. The BBC was said to be guilty of a 'double standard in how civilians are seen', given that it is 'unflinching' in its reporting of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

The journalists requested to remain anonymous and did not feel sending the letter to BBC executives would any difference.

The letter read: “The BBC has failed to accurately tell this story – through omission and lack of critical engagement with Israel’s claims – and it has therefore failed to help the public engage with and understand the human rights abuses unfolding in Gaza.

“Thousands of Palestinians have been killed since October 7. When will the number be high enough for our editorial stance to change?”

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and children. More than 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side during the Hamas attack on  October 7.

According to Al-Jazeera, the BBC journalists said that across British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) platforms, terms like 'massacre' and 'atrocity', have been reserved 'only for Hamas, framing the group as the only instigator and perpetrator of violence in the region. This is inaccurate but aligns with the BBC’s overall coverage'.

The Hamas assault, while 'appalling and devastating … does not justify the indiscriminate killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians, and the BBC cannot be seen to support – or fail to interrogate – the logic that it does,' the letter reads.