Saudi Arabia’s media regulator has ordered an investigation into officials from the Middle East’s largest media group after one of its television channels broadcast a report describing the slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a “new face of terrorism”.

Without naming the channel, the General Authority for Media Regulation said in a statement on X that the report by Saudi-owned MBC, which sparked a strong backlash on social media from pro-Palestinians across the region, was “in violation of the kingdom’s regulations and media policy”.

The investigation into MBC, a conglomerate founded in London and now majority-owned by the government, highlights the delicate balance Riyadh is seeking to strike in the Middle East conflict: the Hamas and Hizbollah militants being pounded by Israel are its historical foes, but Saudi Arabia is also conscious of the outrage among Muslims and Arabs in the kingdom and across the region at the ferocity of Israel’s year-long assault on Gaza.