A 13-year-old Palestinian boy who narrated a BBC documentary on Gaza has said he faces harassment following the film’s release and accused the broadcaster of failing to protect him.

Abdullah al-Yazuri, who survived Israel's months-long genocidal war on Gaza, told Middle East Eye that he had hoped Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone would "spread the message of the suffering that children in Gaza witness." Instead, the BBC pulled the documentary from its streaming platform just four days after airing it, following pressure from pro-Israeli Zionist groups and far-right British media outlets.

The backlash centred on revelations that Abdullah's father, Ayman al-Yazuri, is a deputy minister in the Gaza government. British news outlets labelled him a "Hamas official" and "terror chief," but Middle East Eye reported that he is a technocrat with a background in science, not politics, and has previously worked for the UAE's education ministry and studied in the UK.

Following the documentary's removal, Abdullah says he has been targeted by online harassment and abuse.

"I’ve been working for over nine months on this documentary for it to just get wiped and deleted… it was very sad to me," he told Middle East Eye. "It was pretty disappointing and sad to see this backlash against me and my family, and this harassment. Some anonymous people, let’s say, had tried to hide the true suffering of Gaza’s children by attacking me and my family."

Abdullah says the controversy has taken a toll on his mental health and left him fearing for his safety. He now holds the BBC responsible for his fate.

BBC faces widespread criticism

The BBC's handling of the situation has sparked widespread criticism. Sir Vincent Fean, former British consul-general to Israel-occupied Jerusalem, said the broadcaster had failed to protect Abdullah.

"They have failed, he is receiving hate mail, and his mental health is suffering," he said. "He has done nothing to deserve this. Shame on them."

While the BBC has been accused of airing "Hamas propaganda," there is no evidence of Hamas' influence on the film's content, reports say. Abdullah says his narration was scripted by the production company, Hoyo Films, without input from any outside actors.

Despite the mounting pressure, the BBC has not apologised to Abdullah or his family.

UK Lawyers for Israel has reported the BBC and the film's producers to counterterrorism police, alleging possible links to Hamas.

Calls to reinstate the film

The decision to pull the documentary has drawn backlash from British politicians and media figures. Labour MP Kim Johnson told Middle East Eye that Abdullah's voice "deserves to be heard, not censored."

She called the BBC's move "yet another shocking attempt to silence the truth about what is actually happening in Gaza" and warned that it "raises serious questions about editorial independence and the pressure to suppress Palestinian voices."

British-Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, an emeritus professor at Oxford, described it as "only the latest example of the public broadcaster's regular capitulation to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby."

"The BBC has good reporters on Israel-Palestine," he said, “but its bosses are hopelessly compromised by their pronounced and persistent bias in favour of Israel. The reason for this bias is not lack of knowledge but cowardice, the fear of antagonising Israel and Israel’s friends in high places in Britain."

Meanwhile, journalist Owen Jones said the BBC's actions had "further trashed confidence" in the broadcaster.

"That the BBC has left the young boy they fed to the wolves to be abused as a consequence of their cowardice, and haven’t even reached out, is scandalous," he said.

The controversy has also drawn support for Abdullah.

A letter organised by Artists for Palestine UK, calling for the film to be reinstated, has been signed by over 500 media professionals, including Gary Lineker, Juliet Stevenson, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, and actors Khalid Abdalla, Ruth Negga, Nitin Sawhney, Sarah Agha and Miriam Margolyes. The group said that the BBC had "completely failed in its duty of care."

"It is playing politics with the lives of children traumatised by 17 months of genocidal violence. This, and not the spurious accusations made against the documentary, is the real scandal here."

'I hope Gaza sees light again'

Despite everything, Abdullah remains hopeful that the film will be restored and his story will reach audiences worldwide.

"I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, and continue your efforts that hopefully can and will return the movie back up on BBC," he said.

"I hope that Gaza sees light again, that children of Gaza have a bright future again and everybody in this 260-kilometre spot… sees a better future and a better tomorrow.

"My wish is to study journalism [in] the United Kingdom."

In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: "The BBC takes its duty of care responsibilities very seriously, particularly when working with children, and has frameworks in place to support these obligations."

However, Chris Doyle, chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said Abdullah's ordeal reflects the BBC's wider treatment of Palestinians.

"It should have been a priority to look after the children," he said.

Filmmaker Richard Sanders, who has worked on documentaries about Gaza, warned that journalists covering the war are being smeared.

"More than 200 journalists have been killed by the Israelis in Gaza," he said. "And at the heart of this story, we have a vulnerable child."

Abdullah’s final message to the BBC is stark:

"I did not agree to the risk of me being targeted in any way before the documentary was broadcast on the BBC. So [if] anything happens to me, the BBC is responsible for it."