Gaza Daily is an emergency radio service launched by

BBC News Arabic BBC News Arabic (), formerly BBC Arabic Television, is a television news channel broadcast to the Arab world by the BBC. It was launched on 11 March 2008. It is run by the BBC World Service and funded from the British television licence fee. H ...

in response to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

to "provide listeners in Gaza with the latest information and developments as well as safety advice on where to access shelter, food, and water supplies".

Background

Gaza war

The Gaza Strip, a densely populated Palestinian territory, has faced significant challenges due to the conflict. Communication infrastructure disruptions caused by air strikes have left civilians without reliable access to essential information. In this context, the BBC World Service urgently produced a dedicated radio service that could deliver timely updates and safety advice to the affected population despite internet and phone infrastructure collapse.

BBC World Service

The

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. The World Service has responded to emergency situations in the past. Notably: * In May 2023, during the War in Sudan, BBC News Arabic initiated an emergency radio service. * In February 2022,

BBC News Ukrainian BBC News Ukrainian () is the Ukrainian service of BBC News which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Ukraine and the world. It started broadcasts in 1992.Бі-Бі-Сі – зрозуміти світ, BBC ...

extended TV bulletins following the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. * In 2014,

BBC Media Action BBC Media Action, formerly known as the BBC World Service Trust, is the BBC's international development charity, funded independently by external grants and voluntary contributions. The purpose of the organisation is to use media and communicati ...

launched a service for Gaza during the

2014 Gaza War The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

Broadcasting

Gaza Daily launched on 3 November 2023, broadcasting on

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting, AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. Duri ...

AM radio at a frequency of 639 kHz from the British East Mediterranean Relay Station, situated by Lady's Mile Beach, Western Sovereign Base Area,

Akrotiri and Dhekelia Akrotiri and Dhekelia (), officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA), is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory made of two non-contiguous areas on the island of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. The area ...

, which had remained unused by the BBC since April 2015.

Programming

Since Gaza Daily has run two daily programmes with content produced in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The programming consists of one daily programme at 1500 GMT and a daily update at 0500 GMT. Between and Gaza Daily ran a single daily programme at 1500 GMT.

Response

Liliane Landor Liliane Landor (born 1956) is a Lebanese-born British journalist and broadcasting executive who worked as the Director of the BBC World Service from 2021 until 2024. She worked for the BBC from 1989 to mid-2016, becoming controller for languages ...

, Director of BBC World Service, reported "BBC News Arabic are extremely well-placed to offer this vital service for the people of Gaza at a time of greatest need. Their expertise and specialist knowledge of the region, coupled with the BBC’s standing as the most trusted news source, ensures we can provide the essential information to Gaza’s civilians."

References

{{Gaza war BBC World Service foreign language stations Arabic-language radio stations Radio stations established in 2023 Reactions to the Israel–Hamas war