Critics claim Nabil’s presence in the US exposes BBC Arabic as a “liability” to the Corporation’s reputation.
One post liked on X by Nabil in 2023 described October 7 as “a morning of hope” and a “morning of victory”. She liked another post on the day of the massacre that celebrated the number of dead Israelis and “an unknown number of Israeli settlers” taken hostage “by the resistance”.
Nabil's likes on X/Twitter on October 7 2023 appeared to show support for Hamas's onslaught (Photo: X)[Missing Credit]
After her social media activity was exposed by the Telegraph, the BBC opened an investigation into Nabil, alongside other staff members.
By early 2024, it was reported that several of those who had been investigated were again reporting on the war, with no further disciplinary action taken against them.
Since her posts from October 7 emerged, Nabil has travelled to America several times with the BBC. This included a trip to Chicago in January 2024, when BBC Arabic sent her to report on alleged threats to the city’s Palestinian community.
Last week, she returned to the US and reported live from Washington.
It is not known whether US authorities reviewed Nabil’s social media before she entered the country to cover the summit, which took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that a visa is “a privilege not a right” and the administration is “determined to deny or revoke” the visa of anyone in the US to support terrorists.
A State Department spokesperson said that while it would not comment on specific cases, when new information comes to light on individuals with US visas, they are rigorously vetted.
Nabil liked a comment to a video showing footage of jeeps loaded with bodies and kidnapped civilians that said: “A proud scene photographed by me.” (Photo: X)[Missing Credit]
Nabil’s dispatch from Washington has led to accusations that the BBC shaped its reporting to “present failure and blame” on the Israeli prime minister during his visit to America.
Crossbench peer and former BBC governor, Baroness Ruth Deech, criticised the decision to send Nabil to the summit, suggesting that subsequent bias in the coverage of Netanyahu was inevitable.
She said: “Of all the fine BBC reporters available why would the BBC choose someone with a track record of anti-Israel opinions to cover a Netanyahu summit? It feels as if the reporting is being set up to present failure and blame on Netanyahu.”
The Jewish Leadership Council said the BBC’s continued use of reporters such as Nabil was “a major concern.”
A spokesperson said: “It is inconceivable that the BBC would continue to employ someone who has liked posts in support of October 7, let alone choose them to cover a trip by the Israeli Prime Minister with supposed impartiality.”
Media watchdog, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera), which first uncovered Nabil’s social media activity, said: “Time and again, the BBC was informed that employees of its Arabic service have celebrated terror attacks and spread antisemitic, violent, or conspiratorial content online. Yet the corporation has failed to act decisively, or even transparently (recent resignations notwithstanding).
“This failure of oversight is not abstract; it directly shapes BBC Arabic’s often poor journalism. Some of these same individuals, once allowed back into the newsroom, have gone on to produce distorted, skewed, biased and misleading reports about the war in Gaza and Lebanon.”
The Camera spokesperson said the employment of Nabil meant that “BBC Arabic is once again exposed as a liability to the corporation’s credibility.”
Responding to concerns over Nabil, a BBC spokesperson said: “We have made it clear that we take allegations of breaches of our social media guidance very seriously and we took urgent action to investigate. We do not comment on individual staff matters; however, if we find breaches, we take the appropriate action.”
US President Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025 (Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images
It comes after concerns about BBC Arabic have been repeatedly raised by Jewish community leaders and Camera.
BBC Arabic featured prominently in a report on BBC bias by Michael Prescott, who resigned last summer as an adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines committee.
The largest section of Prescott’s 19-page dossier focused on BBC Arabic.
The corporation has since announced it is looking for a new editor of the service to “try to get a grip on the service” and it is expected that a long-promised thematic review of Middle East coverage will be launched this year.
Late last year, the BBC also unveiled new antisemitism and Islamophobia training for staff.
Meanwhile, Trump has filed a £3.7 billion lawsuit against the BBC over an edited version of his January 6 2021 speech was included in a Panorama documentary, which also came to light in Prescott’s memo.
Trump’s legal team has alleged that the BBC defamed him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech”. The BBC apologised to Trump over the edit but rejected his demands for compensation and said it disagreed that there was a “basis for a defamation claim”.
