A BBC journalist who previously liked social media posts appearing to justify the October 7 Hamas attack covered last week’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, the Jewish Chronicle reported on Monday.
The journalist, Sally Nabil, who is based in the Middle East, was questioned by the BBC in 2023 after it emerged that she had liked more than a dozen posts that appeared to legitimize violence against Jewish civilians.
According to the British Jewish newspaper, one post she liked described the October 7 massacre as a “morning of hope” and a “morning of victory.” Another post she liked on the day of the attack celebrated the number of Israelis killed and referred to an “unknown number of Israeli settlers” taken hostage “by the resistance.”
After the Telegraph reported on her social media activity, the BBC opened an internal investigation into Nabil and other journalists. In early 2024, several of those investigated were reported to have resumed coverage of the war without further disciplinary action.
Since the October 7 posts surfaced, Nabil has traveled to the United States several times on assignment for the BBC, including a January 2024 trip to Chicago to report on alleged threats against the city’s Palestinian community. Last week, she returned to the U.S. and reported live from Washington. It is not known whether U.S. authorities reviewed her social media activity before allowing her entry.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said a visa is “a privilege, not a right,” and that the administration is determined to revoke or deny visas to anyone in the United States who supports terrorists. A State Department spokesperson told the Jewish Chronicle that while the department does not comment on individual cases, new information about visa holders is reviewed thoroughly.
The Jewish Chronicle reported that Nabil’s coverage from Washington prompted accusations that the BBC shaped its reporting to portray Netanyahu’s U.S. visit as a failure. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the BBC’s continued use of journalists such as Nabil is a “major concern,” calling it “inconceivable” that someone who liked posts supporting October 7 would be assigned to cover the Israeli prime minister.
The BBC said it takes alleged breaches of its social media guidelines seriously, carried out an urgent investigation and would take appropriate action if violations were found.