The BBC has come under criticism for describing a string of deadly Hamas suicide bomb attacks organised by late Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif as "military operations", according to reports.

Media monitoring group Camera took aim at BBC Arabic after it referred to attacks organised by Deif, in which 93 people died, including 80 civilians aged 13 to 83, as "military operations", The Telegraph reports.

Deif, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month, was reportedly the military chief when Hamas carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israelis since the 1990s.

In a story following his killing, BBC Arabic allegely said he had taken part in "several military operations against Israel starting from kidnapping soldiers and rocket attacks" which culminated in Hamas' October 7 attack in which some 1,200 people were killed and hundreds more taken hostage, according to the outlet.

Camera, which lobbies for fair representation of Israel in the media, claimed that BBC Arabic's reporting suggested the attacks had been aimed at soldiers rather than civilians, which had the effect of whitewashing the group.

Camera told outlet that, "Downplaying Palestinian groups' responsibility for targeting innocent civilians as mere 'accusations', which only Israel and the US supposedly aim at them, has been a BBC Arabic habit for years.

"Even when the Palestinian groups themselves boast about similar murders, BBC Arabic reporters would often use their own voice to falsely describe them as 'military operations' carried out against 'soldiers' or 'gunmen'."

The corporation has since defended its coverage arguing that it has always "made clear" that Deif was listed as a terrorist by both the United States and the European Union.

Camera says it was founded in 1982 "to respond to The Washington Post's coverage of Israel's Lebanon incursion", what it considers to be the media's general bias against Israel.

It now claims it is "devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East".

A spokesperson for the BBC said: "BBC News Arabic has made clear throughout our coverage that Muhammad Deif was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US and the EU.

"We quoted the Israeli military describing Deif as a terrorist and that they hold him responsible for the murder of Israelis, and we referenced the serious accusations he faced around the 1996 attacks.

"Our audiences were in no doubt about Deif's actions and the fact that he had been called a terrorist, including by Israel."

In response to Hamas' terror attack on October 7, Israel launched an invasion of Gaza, which the terror group governs. The death total death toll in Gaza has topped 40,000 since October of last year, according to the Strip's Hamas-run health ministry.