The BBC helped kill Anas al-Sharif. Its reporting will kill more journalists

How is it possible for a BBC reporter to have made the following obscene observation in his segment on Israel’s murder at the weekend of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif: "There's the question of proportionality. Is it justified to kill five journalists when you were only targeting one?"

Unpacking the depraved journalistic assumptions behind this short “question” is no small task.

Imagine that Israel finally allows western journalists into Gaza after blocking their entry for nearly two years. A team of five familiar BBC faces covering the region set up shop in Gaza and work out of an improvised studio inside the enclave.

Then news breaks that that their studio has been hit by an Israeli strike, and all five killed: Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet, Yollande Knell, Lucy Williamson and Jon Donnison.

Israel doesn’t claim the strike was a mistake, but celebrates the killings. It says it has secret evidence that one of them – let’s say Jon Donnison, who made the observation above – was secretly recruited by Hamas’ military wing while in the enclave.

Can we imagine the BBC or any other western news organisation framing the segment in the following terms: "There's the question of proportionality. Is it justified to kill five journalists when you were only targeting one?"