The former director of BBC Television has warned that the broadcaster risks becoming a propaganda mouthpiece for Hamas.

Danny Cohen said BBC coverage of the Gaza conflict had repeatedly drawn an “appalling false equivalence” between the release of Israeli hostages held in terrible conditions by Hamas and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners by Israel.

Mr Cohen said the BBC had also underplayed the suffering endured by the hostages freed as part of the ceasefire deal, while at the same time emphasising the privations it says were endured by the Palestinians prisoners.

He also accused the corporation of failing to mention that many of the Palestinian prisoners were guilty of terror crimes, including bombings and knife attacks.

The report coincided with the latest round of hostage releases scheduled to take place on Saturday which comes after fears the ceasefire deal could collapse.

In his report analysing the BBC’s coverage of the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 2023, Mr Cohen stated: “In their rush to gloss over the undeniable torture, starvation and beatings that hostages have endured and their determination to highlight claims of poor conditions in Israel’s jails, the BBC is repeatedly drawing offensive false equivalence between victims of war crimes and hundreds of convicted violent offenders.

“The BBC is at risk of becoming a Hamas propaganda mouthpiece. They have repeatedly given a free pass to terrorists who have committed violent racist murder. It will be very hard for many in the Jewish community to ever forget it.”