BBC staff ‘lost for words’ after comedian Guz Khan is announced as host of Have I Got News For You after weeks of calling Israel ‘genocidal’ on social media
A comedian who has accused Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’ in Gaza has been booked to host BBC panel show Have I Got News for You.
Guz Khan, who is best known for his BBC Three comedy Man Like Mobeen, has prolifically posted on social media in support of Palestine since the Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel on October 7.
On his X account (formerly known as Twitter), the 37-year-old has accused Israel of ‘war crimes’ in its response to the sneak assault by the terrorist group and has accused the Jewish state of ‘occupying’ the Palestinian territory for years.
The Coventry-born comic has been chosen to take charge of this week’s version of Have I Got News for You, which will be aired on BBC One on Friday, December 1.
However, the decision has been criticised by one BBC staffer, who told the Times they were ‘lost for words’ he had been booked given the high probability the conflict in Gaza will be mentioned on satirical current affairs show.
Comedian Guz Khan, pictured here at the MOBO Awards in Coventry in 2021, has accused Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza
Guz Khan has been outspoken in his support for Palestine since the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7
The BBC has strict impartiality guidelines regarding its news output and on-air talent working in that area, although this does not apply to its comedy programmes.
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The former Humanities teacher turned comic, who has also appeared on shows such as Taskmaster and Outsiders, has called the current situation in Palestine ‘apartheid’ and an ‘occupation’ by Israel.
On the day of the Hamas attacks, Mr Khan retweeted Greece’s former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who wrote: ‘The path to ending the tragic loss of innocent lives – both Palestinian and Israeli – begins with one crucial first step: the end of the Israeli occupation and apartheid.’
Following Israel’s response to the attacks, which saw it pound Gaza City and northern areas of the Palestinian territory with air strikes for weeks, he accused the country of war crimes.
He tweeted: ‘Ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. The system is setup in the West so that Israel have total, utter impunity to commit these war crimes. How can they wield this level of power? It’s frightening. Just know, one day, it could be you.’
He has also retweeted social media posts accusing Israel of ‘genocide’ against the people of Gaza and criticised politicians in the UK for their support of the country.
MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel’s ground offensive.
Palestinians walk amid debris of buildings hit in Israeli strikes near Al-Zawiya market in Gaza City on Monday
Palestinians inspect the damage to a residential block caused by an Israeli strike in the village of Khuzaa, near the border
Palestinians walk among the rubble of houses destroyed by IDF air strikes in Khan Younis on Monday
In recent days there has been a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel to allow for the exchange of hostages taken by the terrorist group and prisoners held by the Jewish state.
A total of 51 Israelis have been freed under the truce, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.
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After weeks of national trauma over the roughly 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.
‘We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing,’ two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.
Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks.
But those include a number of soldiers, and Hamas is likely to make much greater demands for their release.
Conditions there have remained dire for 2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.
Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.
After the announcement by Qatar – a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt – Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension ‘under the same terms.’
But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas’ military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel.
That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.
The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gaza’s population from their homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More than 1 million are living in U.N. shelters.
The IDF has barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.
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