For two years, Israel killed an average of two healthcare workers every day during its genocide in Gaza, totaling more than 1700 dead. Although a ceasefire is now in place providing much needed respite, many Palestinian doctors are yet to celebrate it as they either languish in Israeli prisons or are no longer alive to see it, which makes our documentary all the more important to watch.

‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,’ available in most countries across the globe exclusively here at Zeteo, is a comprehensive investigation into the systematic targeting of Gaza’s healthcare system, including all 36 of its main hospitals, multiple times, and the killing of its doctors, nurses, and paramedics.

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Produced by the award-winning Basement Films team that brought us last year’s Zeteo exclusive ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism,’ the film features harrowing on-camera testimony from the late Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, as well as shocking accounts of torture at Israel’s Sde Teiman prison from an anonymous Israeli doctor.

This was a film that the BBC had originally commissioned but decided, very controversially, not to publish, issuing a statement saying they had “come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality.” In a response, Basement Films, in a statement posted on Twitter/X, said, “The truth must be told… It’s a damning indictment that it is not possible under the national broadcaster’s current leadership.”

The final film that you’re about to watch above is no longer a BBC film. It is ours.

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For Palestinians in Gaza, a ceasefire means the start of the near-impossible task of reckoning with what’s been lost after two years of death and destruction. An end to the genocide does not cleanse Israel’s hands from the blood of the doctors they killed, the doctors they continue to imprison, and the doctors they tried to kill but couldn’t. Our film helps immortalize their words, echoes their voices, and instills their message.

Paid subscribers are able to watch the documentary in full.

Free subscribers can watch a five-minute preview. For less than the cost of a movie ticket, you can upgrade your subscription now and support the work we are doing, from investigative documentaries like this one to award-winning podcasts and much, much more. Your contribution, small or large, goes a very long way in keeping Zeteo running and making acquisitions like this one possible. You can also donate to us here.

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“We are in the theater, in the operating room, full darkness, no water, no electricity. But we have a hero, surgeons in Gaza.”
- Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, 1974-2024

It goes without saying that the livestreamed cruelty of Israel’s genocide has been indescribably shocking and painful to witness over the last 21 months. A particularly problematic and disturbing aspect of it has been around Gaza’s hospitals, targeting healthcare workers and the besieged Strip’s medical infrastructure at an unprecedented scale, and in clear violation of international law.

Now, a new documentary, available in most countries across the globe exclusively here at Zeteo, takes you inside those hospitals to hear accounts from doctors there, on the ground, about the impossibility of saving lives in a Western-backed Israeli onslaught. It is a comprehensive investigation into the systematic targeting of Gaza’s healthcare system, including all 36 of its main hospitals, multiple times, and the killing of its doctors, nurses, and paramedics.

‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,’ produced by the award-winning Basement Films team that brought us last year’s Zeteo exclusive ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism,’ includes harrowing on-camera testimony from Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who was arrested by the Israeli military in December 2023 and, according to a UN report, “subjected to sexual violence in an Israeli prison prior to his death in Israeli custody.”

It also features shocking accounts of torture at the Israeli prison Sde Teiman from an anonymous Israeli doctor there, who accuses his fellow Israeli medics of being complicit in the abuse of Palestinians held in detention.

This was a film that the BBC had originally commissioned. However, after several delays, they decided, very controversially, not to publish it, issuing a statement saying they had “come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality.” In a response, Basement Films, in a statement posted on Twitter/X, said, “The truth must be told… It’s a damning indictment that it is not possible under the national broadcaster’s current leadership.”

The final film that you’re about to watch, above, is no longer a BBC film. It is ours.

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For the tens of thousands of you who are paid subscribers to Zeteo, we could not have acquired it without your support. In fact, it may have remained in the BBC archives forever, never to be seen or shared as widely as we can do so now. For those of you in the UK, you can watch it on Channel 4 – and we commend that British broadcaster for also stepping forth and allowing this to broadcast in the UK.

Around 1,500 doctors, nurses and healthcare workers have been killed at home or in their workplaces in Gaza, a conservative estimate, and many have been illegally taken into Israel where they, their relatives, human rights groups, watchdogs, allege they have been tortured, and some of them killed. Attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers are prohibited under international law, but started almost the day after Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023 which killed 1,200 Israelis.

Please note that this is not a Zeteo original documentary, like ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism’ or ‘Who Killed Shireen?’ but one we acquired once it had been filmed, edited and finished, so as to share it with the world as fast as possible.

We at Zeteo, as journalists, as a media organization that has vowed to uncover and share the truth and hold those in power to account, had one clear goal: to ensure this important documentary from Basement Films, dropped by the BBC, was released. We cannot say when this genocide will end, when the Western world will say ‘enough,’ but we take our responsibility seriously in making sure the public knows – and that no one forgets – what is happening. Thank you for supporting and joining us on this mission.

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Paid subscribers are able to watch the documentary in full.

Free subscribers can watch a short preview. For less than the cost of a movie ticket, you can upgrade your subscription now and support the work we are doing, from investigative documentaries like this to award-winning podcasts and much, much more. Your contribution, small or large, goes a very long way in keeping Zeteo running. You can also donate to us here.

Read more

This is the film they didn't want you to see.

This is the film that the BBC refused to air.

This is the film that documents, in detail and through eyewitness testimony, Israel's shocking and illegal attacks on Gaza's healthcare system since October 2023.

Watch the exclusive trailer for “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack” above and be sure to catch the film when it releases on Wednesday here at Zeteo. You can also find it at: gazadoctors.film.

The film will be available in full for all paid subscribers to Zeteo. If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, do consider becoming one today to watch this investigation that the BBC commissioned but then refused to air.

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We also want to take a moment to thank all of our paid subscribers, our founding members, and our sponsors. We could not air this film without your financial support. As you continue to support us, know that your contributions are going toward accountability journalism like this that other outlets are still afraid to take on. Should you want to help projects like this even further, you can always donate to us here.

Zeteo is pleased to announce that we are acquiring and will be releasing globally the Gaza medics documentary produced by Basement Films ‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack.’ The documentary was originally set to be released by the BBC, until it decided to reverse course amid a company review of a separate Gaza documentary and after several high-profile delays, it dropped it.

The film tells the testimony of Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers treating patients in Gaza and how they tried to do their work and survive amidst Israel’s military attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers (a breach of international law).

“I am delighted that Zeteo is acquiring the global rights for such an important, vital and devastating film, which has been shamefully blocked from release by the BBC for so long. This is one of the reasons I founded Zeteo with the support of our subscribers: to platform the journalistic voices that are being censored on the biggest issues of our time, whether it be fascism at home or genocide abroad,” said Mehdi Hasan, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Zeteo.

In May, over 600 hundred members of the film industry – including Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon and British filmmaker Mike Leigh – signed an open letter criticizing the BBC for delaying the release of the film, accusing them of censoring Palestinian voices.

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“No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling. This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors’ bravery honoured,” the letter stated.

Stay tuned for more information about this documentary and its upcoming release in the coming days and consider becoming a paid subscriber to be able to watch it in full as soon as it comes out this Wednesday July 2 at 5pm ET (2pm PT) on zeteo.com (and emailed to subscribers). In the UK, it will only be available to watch on Channel 4.

In a statement today, Basement Films says: “This is the third film we have made about the assault on Gaza since October 7th at Basement Films, and whilst none of them have been easy this became by far the most difficult. As ever we owe everything to our Palestinian colleagues on the ground; over 200 of whom have been killed by Israel, and the doctors and medics who trusted us with their stories. We want to apologise to the contributors and team for the long delay, and thank Channel 4 and Zeteo for enabling it to be seen around the world.”

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Last week, the BBC announced that it would not be broadcasting the film after all. An announcement that came after months of delays. “We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC,” the BBC said in its statement.

While the BBC denies the film having ever completed their pre-broadcast signoff process, Basement Films said in its June 20 statement that, “for a period of weeks from March onwards they [BBC] told us several times verbally and by email [the film] had been approved for broadcast.”

Basement Films added in their June 20 statement that several of the doctors, survivors, and contributors to the film, “said the BBC would never run a film like this. It turned out they were right.”

Together with its subscribers, Zeteo aims to create a movement for media accountability. This is not the first time Zeteo has partnered with the award-winning filmmakers at Basement Films. Last year, Zeteo commissioned them to produce the acclaimed documentary, ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism,’ which was described by Israeli-American Holocaust historian Omer Bartov as a “must watch.” In addition, this past May, Zeteo made headlines across the world for its groundbreaking documentary, ‘Who Killed Shireen?' – produced by veteran journalists at District Bear Media.

Stay tuned in the coming days for more information about this documentary. Paid subscribers will be able to watch the full film exclusively here at Zeteo.

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