Writing on Facebook in response to a friend who stated “We want to see some throats cut”, Qannan replied: “Don’t give up on your ambition”.

Qannan also described a 26-year-old Palestinian who killed four civilians and a police officer in a series of shootings in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak in March 2022, as a “hero”.

BBC sources emphasised that Elzaenen and Qannan were not members of staff.

But the broadcaster’s use of them as freelance contributors representing the corporation has been condemned by media watchers, who accuse BBC Arabic, part of the BBC’s World Service, of anti-Israel bias.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) says it is indicative of BBC Arabic’s willingness to use contributors who cannot be trusted to deliver objective and balanced broadcasting.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed that regular BBC Arabic contributor Ahmed Alagha was accused of describing Israelis as less than human and Jews as “devils”.

A Camera UK spokesman said: “The BBC misleadingly frames freelance journalists used by the Arabic service as mere “contributors” so it won’t have to take responsibility for the hatred they regularly spew in social media.

“Providing live reporting from the Gaza Strip and other world locations, it is not their opinion that the BBC asks them to share with its audience but their eyewitness, based on their presence on the ground.

“Freelancers who divulge such egregious bias should not be covering Israeli and Jewish affairs for the BBC. Any individual whose social media activity indicates their support for violence targeting Israel’s Jewish civilians lacks the basic journalistic skill of distinguishing between combatants and uninvolved bystanders.”

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, last month called for “wholesale reform” of BBC Arabic after a report by Camera accused it of “appalling anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias”.

In a letter to Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, Ms Badenoch said: “BBC Arabic is intended to provide high-quality, trusted news for the ­hundreds of millions of people who speak Arabic. It should uphold the highest standards of public-service broadcasting. Instead, it seems that the World Service may be fomenting ­extremism and misleading audiences – while funded by the taxpayer and ­licence fees. This is simply unacceptable and must stop.”

The BBC has previously investigated a number of BBC Arabic presenters and reporters who liked or shared social media posts which appeared to celebrate the Oct 7 atrocities, but took no further action against them.

Elzaenen and Qannan were approached for comment.

A BBC spokesman said: “International journalists including the BBC are not allowed access into Gaza so we hear from a range of eyewitness accounts from the strip. These are not BBC members of staff or part of the BBC’s reporting team. We were not aware of the individuals’ social media activity prior to hearing from them on air. We are absolutely clear that there is no place for anti-Semitism on our services.”