A private company distributing aid in Gaza, backed by the U.S. and Israel, had yet to reopen its distribution sites in the enclave by mid-morning on Thursday, a day after shutting them following a series of deadly shootings close to its operations.

Shootings have erupted nearly daily since last week in the Gaza Strip in the vicinity of new hubs where desperate Palestinians are being directed to collect food.

Dozens of people were killed and injured near an aid site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a Trump administration-backed aid group.

"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 latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources.

The BBC has defended its coverage of the war in Gaza following criticism from the White House regarding its reporting of a recent incident in the region which left several dead. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the BBC had to "correct and take down" its story about fatalities and injuries near an aid distribution centre in Rafah,