Mosque warned over posts after 7 October attacks

The posts were shared on the Central Oxford Mosque Society's social media

A mosque has been given an official warning by the charity regulator over what it called "involvement in inflammatory and divisive communications".

The Charity Commission for England and Wales criticised the Central Oxford Mosque Society for "failing to prevent their platforms being misused to communicate inappropriate material".

It relates to posts shared on the charity's social media following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The BBC has contacted the Central Oxford Mosque Society for comment.

In its report, the Charity Commission found information on what to do if arrested at a protest and advertisements for a specific private solicitor's firm had been posted by the mosque.

Two other posts, which displayed graphic cartoons seeming to criticise the media's reporting of the Israel-Gaza conflict, had also been shared days after the Hamas attacks.

'Serious harm'

The commission found the posts could "create community tensions", and that the mosque had no social media policy in place at the time.

It concluded the posts had been "outside the charity's purposes" and two were "divisive and inflammatory".

Stephen Roake, from the commission, said: "We recognise that recent events in the Middle East are emotive and distressing.

"But it is precisely in times of conflict that charities are expected to bring people together, not to stoke further division."

He added: "The trustees failed to have appropriate processes in place, and allowed their charity's name and reputation to be exposed to serious harm."

In receiving an official warning, the mosque must now take action set out by the commission to "ensure all of the charity's activities are in furtherance of its purposes". This includes implementing a social media policy.

Since issuing the warning, the commission said the charity's trustees had "taken steps to address the concerns".

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 60,000 people have since been killed in Gaza, and 154 people, including 89 children, have died from malnutrition, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.