THE BBC has issued a formal apology after an "editing error" led to an inaccurate translation being shown against an interview with a released Palestinian prisoner.
Respond Crisis Translation claimed on Twitter/X that the BBC had made a “dangerous” error in the translation of an interview posted on the broadcaster’s website on Saturday afternoon by suggesting the woman speaking had said “only Hamas cared” when she did not appear to mention the militant group at all.
The organisation called on the BBC to immediately correct the mistake which it said exacerbated “the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza”.
The BBC explained on Twitter/X an "editing error" had led to a clip being posted which did not match the translation.
Bosses have since issued a formal apology and have said the issue has been raised with senior editors.
The statement clarified a longer version of the interview has now been posted which it says includes the references to Hamas detailed in the translation.
In a statement the BBC said: "During her full interview the released prisoner says, speaking in Arabic: 'No one helped us. Only Hamas cared. Those who felt our suffering, I thank them very much and we love them very much'.
"The shortened video clip we posted included the English translation for these comments, but due to an editing error did not include the comments themselves, leading some viewers to query why her comments to camera did not match the translation provided in subtitles.
"In response we have uploaded the original video clip, so that it includes these comments with the matching translation, and added a note of clarification advising readers that the initial mismatch between the clip and translation was due to an error.
"Although this live page has since closed, we have published the same updated clip and clarification on our latest live page.
"The shortened clip was also played on the BBC News Channel but with a voiceover. This meant that the voiceover translation included the comments that were in the longer version of the clip, but not in the version we played. We clarified this by playing the updated version in full.
"Please accept our apologies for these errors, which have been raised with senior editors."
International mediators are currently pressing to extend a ceasefire in Gaza that has halted the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades.
The ceasefire is scheduled to expire after Monday, as Israel and Hamas prepare for a fourth exchange of Israelis held by Hamas for Palestinians held by Israel.
Israel has said it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.
Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the four-day truce, which came into effect on Friday after several weeks of indirect negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
