The BBC’s Nick Robinson has ignored Lord Cameron’s demand to refer to Hamas as “terrorists”.

A day after the Foreign Secretary’s intervention, Mr Robinson took part in a discussion on Radio 4’s Today programme about Israel’s military operations in southern Gaza.

“Is there a sense that Benjamin Netanyahu is walking a political tightrope, proceeding with military action against what he says are the remaining targets of the group he calls terrorists, Hamas?” he asked Jo Floto, the BBC’s Middle East bureau editor.

Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Lord Cameron condemned Hamas for releasing a video showing Nadav Popplewell, a British-Israel hostage. The group claims Mr Popplewell died in Gaza after being wounded in an Israeli strike.

Lord Cameron said: “Maybe it’s a moment, actually, for the BBC to ask itself again, shall we describe these people as terrorists? They are terrorists.”

However, the BBC is not changing its policy.

A BBC spokesman said: “No one consuming BBC News can be left unaware of the horrific nature of Hamas’s acts.

“We’ve made our long-standing position on this matter very clear. We use the word ‘terrorist’ when it is attributed to others, such as the UK Government.”

John Simpson, the BBC’s world affairs editor, previously said: “We don’t take sides. We don’t use loaded words like ‘evil’ or ‘cowardly’. We don’t talk about ‘terrorists’.

“It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”

Mr Robinson’s wording was criticised by Sir Michael Fabricant, the Tory MP, who said on social media: “Why does @‌bbcnickrobinson say on @‌BBCr4today ‘Hamas, a terrorist organisation as israel would say’ when Hamas is a terrorist organisation and is proscribed as such by the United Kingdom and EU?”