The BBC should be investigated over its steadfast refusal to call the attacks on Israel by designated terrorist group Hamas "terrorism" in its news coverage, an MP has argued.

Conservative MP Andrew Percy, the vice chair of Conservative Friends of Israel, has called for an investigation into the national broadcaster amid mounting anger over the corporation’s steadfast refusal to call the attacks on Israel by designated terrorist group Hamas "terrorism" in its news coverage.

Percy, the MP for Brigg and Goole said: “'If it wasn't bad enough that the BBC refers to Hamas as 'militants’, rather than as 'terrorists', they reported their statements about the blast as if they were fact.

“Contrast that to the BBC’s reporting of Israel’s factual accounts, when they repeatedly remind readers that the BBC had not been able to verify those claims. The BBC has a blind spot on Israel but more importantly, their biased reporting risks radicalisation of certain communities in this country and fuelling antisemitism. Their approach is dangerous and is putting Jewish communities at risk. It is time the BBC was investigated.”

The BBC said it was attributing the words “terrorism” and “terror” to the Belgian authorities who are dealing with that attack. Commenting on the hospital headline, it said: “This was a mistake - the headline should have attributed the words, so it was swiftly changed.”