The BBC has been described as “shameless” after interviewing a Palestinian politician who celebrated the Oct 7 Hamas massacre.

Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative party, appeared on BBC Radio 4’s World at One on Wednesday.

He was invited after Israel had launched a large-scale operation across the West Bank, killing nine Palestinians in efforts to root out “terror infrastructure”.

On the day of the Oct 7 terror attacks, in which Hamas gunmen stormed the Gaza border and killed 1,200 Israelis, Mr Barghouti told Al-Jazeera Qatar: “Todaay is a glorious day for the Palestinian resistance and people.

“The resistance paid with interest for the attacks of the terrorist settlers and the attacks against the al-Aqsa mosque. It paid with interest for those who normalise [their relations] with the occupation.”

The al-Aqsa mosque is among the most sensitive flashpoints in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. As well as being the third holiest site in Islam, the compound in which it is located is the most sacred site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

During the World at One exchange, Mr Barghouti was asked by Sarah Montague, the programme’s presenter: “When you hear of attacks by Palestinians on Israelis, what do you think? Do you support those attacks?”

He replied: “Look, you don’t need to ask me this question because I am so well-known for being an activist calling always for non-violent resistance. And I don’t want anybody to be killed but, let me tell you, the war here is one-sided from one side on another.”

There was no further challenge from Ms Montague to Mr Barghouti over his claim, although the corporation said their wider exchange had been “robust and challenging”.

But an Israeli official said the BBC should have done more to challenge Mr Barghouti’s assertion that he had “always” called for non-violent resistance.

“The BBC’s failure in letting Barghouti get away with the claim that he is peaceful is shameless,” said the official.“His celebration of the Oct 7 massacre was on public record. and he should have been challenged over his views.”

A BBC spokesman said: “This was a robust and challenging interview with a veteran political activist about the current situation in the occupied West Bank and the programme featured a range of views. The BBC is committed to covering this polarising story impartially and independently.”

The corporation has strenuously defended its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which broke out in the wake of the Oct 7 attacks.

David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesman, accused Mishal Husain, a BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter, of pro-Palestinian bias during an interview last month. 

He also claimed the BBC had taken a “partial” approach to the war and said the tone of its coverage had left British Jews “afraid to walk the streets”. The corporation said Ms Husain had asked “legitimate and important questions in a professional, fair and courteous manner”.

An online article published by the corporation in June about the Gaza water crisis wrongly claimed that a boy with cerebral palsy had been “normal” and in “excellent health” before the conflict. The story was pulled from the BBC website and later republished with a note explaining how the original article had not been clear.

Polling conducted by the Jewish Chronicle newspaper last year found British Jews did not feel the BBC had done enough to address accusations of bias against Israel. Three quarters of those surveyed believed its coverage of the war had been skewed against Israel, with only 11 per cent thinking it was impartial.

Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, has previously voiced “outrage” at BBC reporting.