White House attacks BBC for its coverage of Gaza

The broadcaster has rejected the criticisms from the White House.

At a briefing in Washington yesterday, press secretary for President Donald Trump, Karoline Leavitt, accused the BBC of taking 'the word of Hamas' when reporting on a shooting near an aid distribution site on Sunday.

She further criticised the outlet for changing the number of casualties in the story's headline.

The broadcaster has rejected the criticisms, labeling them as 'completely wrong'.

The corporation said its coverage was updated with new figures, which is 'totally normal practice on any fast-moving news story'.

The statement added that the numbers 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' at their field hospital.'

Leavitt also accused the BBC of redacting a story because it 'couldn't find any evidence of anything'.

This referred to a BBC Verify report examining a viral video.

The BBC explained in a statement that this report found that 'a viral video posted on social media was not linked to the aid distribution centre it claimed to show', however the video did not run on BBC news channels, and did not inform its reporting.

"Conflating these two stories is simply misleading. It is vital to bring people the truth about what is happening in Gaza. International journalists are not currently allowed into Gaza and we would welcome the support of the White House in our call for immediate access," the statement added.

The BBC has written that there have been 'conflicting reports' surrounding the events near an aid distribution centre in Rafah on Sunday.

According to civilian witnesses, NGOs, and health officials, people were shot while waiting for food at an aid distribution point; however, this has been denied by the Israeli military.

Furthermore, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israel-backed group that currently runs the aid distribution, called reports 'outright fabrications'.