The BBC has apologised for a radio report which inaccurately claimed that Israeli authorities only detained Palestinian terror suspects without trial.

The Radio 4 news report came after an arson attack on a Palestinian family in the West Bank town of Duma in July, which resulted in the death of a mother and father and their 18-month-old son. At the time, Jewish extremists were detained on suspicion of committing the atrocity.

However, the BBC claimed that: “The process, known as administrative detention, has previously been used only against Palestinian militant suspects.”

The report sparked a complaint from Noru Tsalic, an Israeli blogger who heard the broadcast. He described it as “bias and inaccuracy in reporting”.

He said: “In presenting the inaccurate statement as fact, the BBC fed into propaganda claiming that Israel discriminates by law between Jews and other ethnicities or religions.”

He added: “Israel has used administrative detention against Arab Palestinian inciters, but also against Jewish Israeli extremists.”

After initially rejecting Mr Tsalic’s criticism, the BBC’s complaints division apologised for the report.

In an email, a BBC spokesman told Mr Tsalic, from Bushey in Hertfordshire: “We have discussed the matter with senior editorial staff at the radio newsroom and they see your point.

“The script shouldn’t have referred to administrative detention only being used against Palestinian militant suspects.

“We are sorry for this.”