The BBC on Wednesday, June 4, defended its reporting of an incident in which Palestinians were killed near a Gaza aid center, after the White House accused the broadcaster of taking "the word of Hamas." Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 people on Sunday near the US-backed aid center. The Israeli military, however, denied its troops had fired on civilians in or around the center, and both it and the aid center's administrator accused Hamas of sowing false rumours.
Responding to a question about the incident, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that the BBC had to "correct and take down" its story about the incident. "The administration is aware of those reports and we are currently looking into the veracity of them because, unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth," she said.
"We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines," she said, citing stories that gave different death tolls. "And then, oh, wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying 'We reviewed the footage and couldn't find any evidence of anything'," she added.
But the BBC said the White House claims were not accurate and that it had not removed its story. "The claim the BBC took down a story after reviewing footage is completely wrong. We did not remove any story and we stand by our journalism," it said in a statement.
It said headlines giving varying death tolls were "totally normal" journalistic practice due to the story being "updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources." It said the death tolls were always "clearly attributed, from the first figure of 15 from medics, through the 31 killed from the Hamas-run health ministry to the final Red Cross statement of 'at least 21'", it added.
Leavitt also criticised the Washington Post for its reporting of the incident. The Post deleted one article over sourcing issues "because it and early versions of the article didn't meet Post fairness standards." "The article and headline were updated on Sunday evening making it clear that there was no consensus about who was responsible."
The BBC has previously faced criticism of its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. In February, it apologized and admitted "serious flaws" over a documentary – Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone – after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a senior Hamas figure.