A BBC report published on Tuesday on the killing of a disabled Palestinian man by Israel has drawn intense backlash, following what activists described as a "misleading headline" and "dehumanisation of Palestinians" amid the war in Gaza.

The British public broadcaster's news website initially ran the story with the headline "The lonely death of Gaza man with Down’s syndrome" — omitting mention of the fact that 24-year-old Muhammad Bhar was left to die by the Israeli army after a combat dog was violently set on him.

In the report, written by veteran Irish journalist Fergal Keane, the attack was not mentioned until the 16th paragraph — almost halfway through the piece.

Instead, the story led with Muhammad’s disabilities and the challenges he had faced throughout his life, as told by his mother Nabila.

Soon after, the report detailed the Bhar family's experience of displacement by war, and the distress Muhammad experienced due to the sounds of bombs, before going into detail about the Israeli army dog attack.

Following the story’s publication, activists took to social media to criticise the BBC's reporting.

Disability activist Tamara Taggart said the 24-year-old with Down’s syndrome didn’t die "a lonely death", and was in fact "brutalised".

"Muhammad was non-verbal and needed his mum for everything, his pain is impossible to comprehend," she said.

Libyan caricaturist Suhaib Tantoush called the BBC’s headline "despicable", adding that it will be "remembered historically".

"Muhammad [sic] was killed maliciously and in an evil manner by Zionists," Tantoush said.

Meanwhile, left-wing commentator Owen Jones called the headline a "disgusting travesty", and applauded the outrage for forcing the BBC to amend their headline.

"Neve stop fighting the dehumanisation of the Palestinian people as they are butchered with Western complicity," he wrote on X.

The BBC has since deleted the post following the criticism, and amended their headline. The new ones now reads: "Gaza man with Down’s syndrome attacked by IDF dog and left to die, mother says".

In a new post on Wednesday, the BBC News World's X account added a disclaimer that the latest post "replaces an earlier version in order to update a headline that more accurately represents the article".

Some suggested that the change wasn’t good enough, with one activist saying it failed to mention "who the dog was with, and why". ...

... DCIP documented four cases in 2023 where Palestinian children were attacked by Israeli military  dogs. These cases include a 13-year-old boy in Tulkarem, a 14-year-old girl in Jenin, and two siblings aged eight and 12 in Tubas. Such actions pose immediate physical harm and contribute to a broader context of fear and insecurity within the affected communities.