Going on 3 weeks now since I made my very simple and straightforward complaint (posted below) despite them telling me:

"We aim to respond within 2 weeks, this isn't always possible due to various factors, such as the nature of your complaint or delays in hearing back from key individuals who may be involved in programme making."

Anyway, I had the bright idea of checking out the offending article again and lo and behold, the part I complained about had been changed with a slight omission and reediting of the original lie.
I received no notification of this or notification on the actual piece, despite finding this from the BBC...it would appear that patently false statements that support Israel are "small errors":

"If an article has been edited since publication to correct a material inaccuracy, a note will be added at the end of the text to signal to the reader there has been an amendment or correction with the date of that change. If there is a small error in a story that does not alter its editorial meaning (eg name misspelling), the correction will be made without an additional note."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/help-41670342

Original complaint/question:

Inexcusable false information concerning Oct 7th 

In the piece "Israel launches 'extensive strikes' on Gaza with at least 220 reportedly killed", written by Rushdi Abualouf and George Wright on 18th March, 2025, they state:

"The latest war between Israel and Hamas started on 7 October 2023, when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians, with 251 taken hostage."

This is patently false as many news outlets, including Israeli news sources and the Israeli military itself, have confirmed.
In fact, many Israelis were killed by the implementation of The Hannibal Directive that day which is the controversial military protocol that permits the use of indiscriminate firepower, even against Israel’s own civilians, in an effort to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers.

The Jerusalem Post for instance:
"On October 7, the Israeli air force fired on anything that was moving along the border.
Israeli forces carried out approximately 945 airstrikes and fired 11,000 times from helicopters, resulting in heavy casualties."
Or Haaretz:
They reported that the military knew that Israeli civilians had been taken hostage, but, nonetheless, at 11:22 a.m. the order came down from IDF command: “Not a single vehicle can return to Gaza.”
The report concludes: “[The 11:22 a.m. message] was understood by everyone. . . At this point, the IDF was not aware of the extent of kidnapping along the Gaza border, but it did know that many people were involved. Thus, it was entirely clear what the message meant, and what the fate of some of the kidnapped people would be.”

Even former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed it had been used.

So, a simple question more than a complaint: why are BBC journalists still peddling something that is patently false?
Two possibilities occur to me...they are intentionally deceiving us or they are ignorant of the facts.
Whichever one it is, they should not be writing for public consumption.

E Murray.