The BBC is under pressure to reveal whether any taxpayers’ money was paid to Hamas during the making of a film about Gaza.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, has demanded an inquiry into allegations of “potential collusion” with the terrorist group after it emerged that Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was fronted by a Hamas minister’s son.

The BBC initially kept the documentary online with an added disclaimer at the start, arguing that it remained an “invaluable testament” to Palestinians’ experiences of the war.

But the corporation has since removed it from its iPlayer service while it conducts “further due diligence” with Hoyo Films, the production company.

Mrs Badenoch backed calls for the broadcaster to commission a full independent inquiry into the making of the film, as well as wider claims of “systemic BBC bias against Israel”. She also threatened to withdraw the Tories’ support for the licence fee if the BBC did not take “serious action” to prove its “true impartiality”.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed that BBC bosses are set to be grilled over the row by MPs on the Commons culture, media and sport committee. Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, is also set to hold urgent talks with the corporation over the sourcing for the programme.

In a letter to Tim Davie, the BBC director general, on Sunday, Mrs Badenoch said any investigation “must consider allegations of potential collusion with Hamas, and the possibility of payment to Hamas officials”.

The Tory leader questioned how the film could have been commissioned without “comprehensive work by the BBC” to ensure that presenters or participants were not linked to the “appalling” Hamas regime.

She criticised the BBC’s “defensive reaction” to the row after the broadcaster insisted it was not “informed” of the connection to Hamas by the film’s producers before it was broadcast.

“After the revelation that the presenter of this programme was the son of a Hamas official, the BBC initially argued that the ‘documentary’ remained an ‘invaluable testament’ to the war, and kept the programme on iPlayer,” she wrote.

“This defensive reaction from BBC executives is profoundly troubling. It shows problems run deep. Surely it should have been immediately apparent that the programme was fundamentally flawed? The BBC also suggested that ‘usual compliance procedures’ had been followed. But does filming inside Gaza not require something far beyond usual checks?

“This is why I support calls for an independent inquiry into the documentary’s commissioning and production, which should be concluded and published in a timely way. Such an investigation must consider allegations of potential collusion with Hamas, and the possibility of payment to Hamas officials.”

The film was described as “pure propaganda” by Israel after it emerged that Abdullah Al-Yazouri, its 14-year-old narrator, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, the deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run Gaza government.

Another child featured in the documentary is the daughter of a former captain in the Hamas-run police force, while a third child was pictured posing with Hamas fighters.

Mrs Badenoch also said the BBC should be investigated more generally over “serious” allegations of bias against Israel in its coverage of the conflict. The allegations have persisted since the Oct 7 Hamas attacks in 2023.

She called for any review to look at “wider issues” surrounding the broadcaster’s handling of the war, including the “senior management of BBC News” and suggested she could withdraw Tory support for the licence fee if the BBC could not prove its “true impartiality”.

“The BBC must recognise how serious these allegations are for its public standing,” she said. “The BBC’s Middle East coverage is widely regarded as unreliable.

“The Conservative Party has supported the BBC in government, including through the current charter, which will end in 2027. I cannot see how my party could support the continuation of the current licence fee-based system without serious action by the BBC management to prove the organisation is committed to true impartiality.”

It is understood that the BBC has received the letter from Mrs Badenoch and plans to respond directly. A BBC spokesman said: “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone features important stories we think should be told – those of the experiences of children in Gaza.

“There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in the light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company. The programme will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place.”