BBC Middle East editor Raffi Berg has launched a libel lawsuit against journalist Owen Jones over an article that alleged deep-rooted institutional bias inside the broadcaster, British and Israeli media reported on Thursday. The case stems from Jones’s December 2024 investigation for Drop Site News, entitled “The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza”, which drew on testimony from 13 current and former BBC journalists.

They accused senior management, and Berg in particular, of systematically sanitising coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza while erasing Palestinian suffering.

One former staffer told Jones: “This guy’s entire job is to water down everything that’s too critical of Israel.” Others said Berg reportedly routinely rewrote headlines and story text to foreground Israeli military narratives and strip away Palestinian humanity.