Leading barristers have accused the BBC of colluding with Hamas by refusing to label it a terrorist organisation.
The firm is under increasing scrutiny for instructing its journalists to refer to the Palestinians responsible for the atrocity in Israel as militants.
Nick Robinson, the show’s host, defended the broadcaster for following “long-standing practise.”
However, Lord Wolfson KC, Lord Pannick KC, Lord Grabiner KC, and Jeremy Brier KC have written to broadcasting regulator Ofcom, requesting that it investigate the judgement.
They claimed that the BBC had taken sides by using “more sympathetic terms” to describe Hamas.
“On 7th October 2023, Hamas launched a large invasion of the State of Israel which resulted variously in the slaughter, rape and abduction of over a thousand Israeli citizens,” the letter states.
“There is nothing controversial about that. It is a fact.
“The BBC has fallen well below the standards expressed in its Editorial Values in reporting of that invasion and the consequences therefrom.”
The lawyers said by “watering down” descriptions of Hamas, which is classed by law as a terror group, it is failing to be impartial.
“It necessarily involves the BBC ‘stepping into the arena’ and taking sides so as to describe Hamas in more sympathetic terms,” the letter adds.
Robinson, a Today programme broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, said the language regulations are common practise.
“No one watching the reporting of my BBC colleagues in Israel can deny the horror of what has happened,” he stated.
“I completely see why some people want the word ‘terrorism’ to be used. However, the BBC, ITV, and Sky have long reported others using that language rather than employing it themselves.”