The BBC has hit back at White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt after she attacked its coverage of the war in Gaza.
Leavitt accused the British public service broadcaster of spreading “misinformation” over the way it covered claims that Israel had killed Palestinians near an aid distribution center on Sunday.
Speaking at a White House briefing, she said: “We don’t take the word of Hamas with total truth. We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC.”
Holding up a piece of paper containing images of BBC reports, she went on: “They wrote ‘Israeli tank kills 26,’ ‘Israeli tank kills 21,’ ‘Israeli gunfire kills 31,’ ‘Red Cross says 21 were killed in an aid incident.’ And then, oh wait, they had to take down their entire story, saying, ‘We reviewed the footage and couldn’t find any evidence of anything.’”
But in a video posted on X, BBC News analysis editor Ros Atkins said Leavitt’s diatribe “was repeatedly false.”
“This contains a mix of misrepresentation and untruths,” he added. “When speaking, Karoline Leavitt held up a printout which showed a post on X by a student activist. Its focus, and hers, was the BBC’s coverage on Sunday. Residents had reported Israeli fire near an aid center.”
“Over the course of the day, the BBC repeatedly updated its coverage, as is standard on a breaking news story. Updated claims on fatalities were all clearly attributed to a number of sources in Gaza, including the Red Cross, which is an independent organisation. Sourcing like this is standard when a story is evolving and details are hard to confirm. It’s also a necessary aspect of covering this conflict, given Israel doesn’t allow international news organisations into Gaza.”
Atkins also insisted the BBC had made it clear when the casualty numbers it was reporting had been provided by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
He added: “The BBC also reported statements it received from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which called the reports ‘false’ and urged the media to ‘be cautious.’”
Atkins said Leavitt’s claim that the BBC had been forced to “take down their entire story” was untrue.
“The BBC didn’t take down any of its coverage of this story,” he said. “The articles remain online.”
Later in her press briefing, Leavitt told reporters: “We’re going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium before we take action, and I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the amount of misinformation that’s going around the globe on this front.”
Hitting back, Atkins said: “In this case, either the White House didn’t look into its claims about the BBC before bringing them to the podium, or had no concern that they weren’t true.”