LONDON: The BBC has strongly defended its reporting of a deadly incident near a US-backed aid distribution site in Gaza, rejecting criticism from the White House as “incorrect” and denying claims that it had taken down a story.

The row erupted after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a press briefing on Tuesday, accused the BBC of relying on information from Hamas in its initial reporting of a shooting near an aid distribution center in Rafah on Sunday.

Leavitt also claimed the BBC had retracted a story — a claim the broadcaster called “completely wrong.”

“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,” the BBC said in a statement.

Leavitt’s remarks came in response to questions about reports that Israeli forces had opened fire near the aid site. Holding printed screenshots from the BBC website, she accused the broadcaster of changing casualty figures in multiple headlines and said it had “corrected and taken down” its report.

“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.

Leavitt listed a series of changing headlines: “We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines, they wrote, ‘Israeli tank kills 26’, ‘Israeli tank kills 21’, ‘Israeli gunfire kills 31’, ‘Red Cross says, 21 people were killed in an aid incident.’”

“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 said.

The BBC issued a swift rebuttal, emphasizing that all casualty figures were clearly attributed and updated throughout the day based on information from a range of sources — standard practice in any fast-moving situation, especially during conflict.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 31 people were killed in the gunfire. The International Committee of the Red Cross later confirmed that 21 people had died. Initial reports from local medics cited 15 dead.

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,” the BBC statement said.

“Our news stories and headlines about Sunday’s aid distribution center incident were updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources … This is totally normal practice on any fast-moving news story.

“Completely separately, a BBC Verify online report on Monday reported a viral video posted on social media was not linked to the aid distribution center it claimed to show.

“This video did not run on BBC news channels and had not informed our reporting. Conflating these two stories is simply misleading,” it added.

Witnesses, NGOs and local health officials said that civilians had been shot at while waiting for food at the Rafah aid point. The Israeli military denied these claims and said its forces had not fired at civilians. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed private group overseeing aid distribution, dismissed the reports as “outright fabrications.”

On Wednesday, GHF announced a temporary suspension of its operations in Gaza, citing security concerns. The Israeli army warned that roads leading to aid centers were now considered “combat zones.”

The closure follows a string of deadly incidents that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned as “unacceptable” and potentially “war crimes.”

The information war surrounding the conflict — now in its 21st month — has intensified, with both Israel and Hamas battling to control the narrative.

Independent reporting from Gaza remains limited. Israel continues to bar international media, including the BBC, from entering the territory, forcing news organizations to rely on local journalists, social media and unofficial channels.

Many local reporters are working under extreme physical and psychological pressure and are themselves frequent targets of Israeli airstrikes.

The BBC reiterated its call for unimpeded media access and urged the White House to support that demand.

“It’s important that accurate journalism is respected,” said Jonathan Munro, deputy director of BBC News. “And that governments call for free access to Gaza.”