Livestreamed genocide: Framing analysis of Palestinians in the BBC and i24 News coverage of the war on Palestine (2023–24)

This qualitative investigation employed media framing theory to unpack the BBC and Israeli TV channel i24 News coverage of the war on Gaza between October 2023 and April 2024. A textual analysis method on articles and video coverage of these channels was used to divulge how Palestinians were framed amid three events: the sieges of Al-Shifa hospital, the ‘Flour Massacre’ and the killing of the World Central Kitchen aid workers. These findings were then discussed with regard to the presence of ‘orientalist’ tropes regarding Palestinians. This study found that the BBC and i24 News varied and overlapped in patterns of reporting; both channels predominantly employed Israeli security frames, particularly through the ‘terrorism’ frame. For both channels, Palestinian security frames were absent, and Israeli responsibility frames were only made salient when covering the killing of the foreign World Central Kitchen aid workers. The BBC news framing appeared more balanced, as it employed both humanitarian, conflict/war and Israeli security frames, but its overall coverage was underpinned by Israeli security framing. These findings were discussed against the broader context of ‘orientalizing’ Arab/Muslim tropes, Israeli culpability and power asymmetries inherent in the Palestinian struggle against colonization, occupation and ongoing genocide.