White House accuses BBC of taking 'the word of Hamas with total truth'

By 
 June 6, 2025

Dozens of people were killed and hundreds more wounded earlier this week in a shooting at an aid distribution site in Gaza.

Israel has denied involvement in the event, and the White House all but went nuclear on the BBC for accepting claims and accusations made by Hamas at face value.

"We don't take the word of Hamas"

"Unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth. We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC," the Daily Mail quoted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt as saying at a Tuesday press conference.

She then went on to read off a series of news headlines which she regarded as evidence of the BBC's bias.

"Israeli tank kills 26, Israeli tank kills 21, Israeli gunfire kills 31, Red Cross says 21 people were killed in an aid incident," Leavitt said as she recited a BBC headline.

"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," Leavitt stated.

"So, we're going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium or before we take action and I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the amount of disinformation that's going around the globe on this front," she added.

BBC: "We stand by our journalism"

The Hill noted that the BBC reacted to Leavitt's comments by releasing a statement in which it denied the White House press secretary's assertions.

"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 alleged.

"Karoline Leavitt criticized the BBC for changing the number of casualties in the story’s headline," the outlet continued.

"The corporation said its coverage was updated with new figures throughout the day, which is ‘totally normal practice on any fast-moving news story," it went on to add.

Leavitt posts clip

Leavitt was not deterred, however, and she put up a social media post which featured a video clip in which a BBC presenter could be seen referencing casualty claims by Hamas officials.

"Me: The White House doesn’t take Hamas’s word as total truth like the fake news BBC," Leavitt wrote in the post before adding, "Fake News BBC: We didn’t do that! We just quoted the Hamas-run health ministry to run with our false claims."

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