EXCLUSIVE: Zeteo Acquiring Film About Gaza Doctors That BBC Refused to Air

‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack’ documentary will be released globally by Zeteo after being dropped by the BBC.

Jun 28, 2025

General view of the Sheikh Redwan Health Center affiliated with UNRWA, a large part of which was destroyed during the attacks targeted by Israel in Gaza City on February 21, 2025. (Photo by Khalil Ramzi Alkahlut/Anadolu - Getty Images)

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.

“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.”

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.

Here are some related Zeteo posts about doctors and aid in Gaza: