Over the weekend, as those in Gaza arrived to collect aid, the BBC was among those outlets sharing libelous claims that the IDF shot and killed those seeking such aid. Among those cited included the Red Cross, which has been negligent in helping the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023; the United Nations, which has been particularly harsh on Israel; and the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas. Although some corrections were put out on Monday, the same day that the Trump White House called out the outlet, that's far from the whole story, especially given the BBC's reaction.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called out the BBC and its reporter who repeated the libelous claims in the briefing room, as we covered at the time. Not long after, however, the BBC posted a statement about the matter to make excuses and even double down about their "journalism."
"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 statement began.
"Our news stories and headlines about Sunday's aid distribution centre incident were updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources. These 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. This is totally normal practice on any fast-moving news story," the statement goes on to claim, as if these were all valid sources.
There's also a reference to the claims that appeared on a part of the BBC website for Monday, though again, the aim for the outlet was to double down on covering themselves. "Completely separately, a BBC Verify online report on Monday reported a viral video posted on social media was not linked to the aid distribution centre 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," the statement continued.
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Finally, the statement went for a laughable point about "bring[ing] people the truth," which is not helped by how the BBC relies on and even parrots pro-Hamas propaganda by citing their health ministry. "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 concludes.
BBC STATEMENT
— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) June 3, 2025
"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.
"Our news stories and headlines about Sunday's aid distribution centre incident were updated throughout the day with the…
The statement has so far received 1,600 replies and plenty of quoted replies expressing outrage. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, the BBC has continued to put out plenty of similar pieces regarding Gaza and the situation. One piece, including video coverage, puts the Red Cross in an even more complicit light, "Act now to save lives in Gaza, ICRC head urges world leaders." Still another piece laments that "Killings near Gaza aid centre will deepen criticism of Israel's new distribution system," and could result in context from Community Notes.
Making the libelous claim about IDF soldiers shooting those showing up for aid even worse is that such reporting from those and other outlets took place just before Mohamed Soliman allegedly attacked Jews participating in a "Run for Their Lives" event in Boulder, Colorado in support of those taken hostage by Hamas. The terrorist attack took place on Sunday and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Tuesday that his family would be deported. Soliman was here illegally from Egypt, as he had overstayed his visa.
The BBC has also recently posted about their reporter's heated exchange with Leavitt, with BBC Verify's Ros Atkins calling out the press secretary. Such a post on X has also resulted in plenty of replies calling out the outlet for such biased coverage. There's also a piece from even earlier on Wednesday claiming that "BBC rejects incorrect White House claims on Gaza coverage."
This is not the only time that the BBC has had such problematic reporting on the Israeli-Hamas conflict. As we've covered in the past, the BBC also had some rather sanitized coverage of dead Hamas terrorist leaders, and has also put out problematic coverage about those taken hostage by Hamas. Late last month, the BBC also had to issue a correction regarding claims from the UN on BBC radio that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die if they didn't receive aid within 48-hours.
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