BBC Settles, Apologizes to 7.10 Survivors Whose Home Was Filmed Without Consent

The BBC has reached a financial settlement with an Israeli family whose home was filmed by a BBC news crew without permission in the aftermath of the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.

The incident took place in Netiv HaAsara, a village on Israel’s southern border that was heavily attacked during the massacre. A BBC team, which included international editor Jeremy Bowen, entered the damaged home of Tzeela and Simon Horenstein in the days following the attack and filmed inside the property without the family’s knowledge or consent.

At the time of the filming, many of the family’s friends and relatives did not yet know whether they were alive.

The couple and their two young children survived only because the door to their home jammed after attackers tried to blow it open with explosives. Grenades were thrown at the house, and gunmen attempted to force their way inside.

Tzeela Horenstein later described the BBC’s actions as a second violation. After surviving an attempted murder, she said, the family learned that journalists had entered their home uninvited and filmed personal belongings and family photographs.

She described the BBC’s presence as another intrusion, saying that whatever sense of control remained after the attack had been taken from them.

According to reports, the BBC agreed to pay the family £28,000 as part of the settlement. The corporation confirmed that an agreement had been reached but declined to comment further on the legal details.

The case has intensified criticism of the BBC’s conduct and editorial judgment in its coverage of Israel and the October 7 attacks, raising serious questions about journalistic ethics, consent, and the treatment of victims’ private spaces in the immediate aftermath of mass violence.