Al Jazeera deletes fabricated story of IDF raping women in Gaza

A Qatari state-run news organization quietly retracted a story that accused Israeli soldiers of raping women and burning families alive at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, an allegation that went viral despite the lack of evidence. 

Al Jazeera is a news organization funded in part by the Qatari government, which supports Hamas, the terrorist group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas’ invasion on Oct. 7 that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people, including 31 Americans, and the abduction of more than 240 others. 

As The Jerusalem Post reported last Sunday, Al Jazeera’s report accusing Israeli soldiers of rape remained on the news site for 24 hours before it was taken down. At the time of the JP’s report, Al Jazeera hadn’t yet issued an official retraction. 

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The now-deleted article featured testimony from Jamila Al-Hessi, a Gazan woman, who claimed to have witnessed IDF soldiers “raping women then killing them and burning entire families alive” after Hamas terrorists barricaded themselves inside of the Al-Shifa Hospital. 

Al Jazeera did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s inquiry about the article’s publication and subsequent removal. 

In a post on X Sunday, Al Jazeera columnist and former managing director Yasser Abuhilalah admitted that the story was a fabrication; however, he still accused Israel of committing genocide. 

“It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Al-Shifa Hospital was fabricated … ” Abuhilalah wrote. “The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood!” 

“As if more than thirty thousand martyrs, ninety thousand wounded, about a million displaced people, and comprehensive destruction were not enough!” he added. 

Israel launched an offensive in Gaza to eliminate Hamas after the terror group’s Oct. 7 invasion, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the abduction of more than 240 others.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has claimed that over 32,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war started; however, the number is difficult to verify because the data provided by the health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and Hamas has been accused of using civilians as human shields. Similarly, many have expressed skepticism concerning the authenticity of figures provided by Hamas. 

The IDF has repeatedly reported that Hamas has used Al-Shifa hospital as a base to conduct its terrorist operations and hide behind civilians. 

As The Times of Israel reported Thursday, Israeli forces killed a senior Hamas commander, and IDF soldiers have detained more than 900 terror suspects during its ongoing raid at the hospital. According to IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, 513 of the suspects are confirmed to be members of terror groups. 

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, multiple reports have surfaced that the terror group subjected women to widespread sexual violence during its onslaught. 

One of the reports of Hamas’ sexual crimes came from a woman known as Shari, who works with IDF’s Rabbinate corps, and was responsible for preparing victims’ bodies for burial. In October, Shari told The Daily Mail that there is evidence of Hamas’ mass rape of women, children and the elderly, with the violence being so extreme that many victims had their pelvis’ broken.

“We wash the bodies and prepare them for burial. We try to bring them dignity in death,” the Rabbinate corps member said. “I heard stories about Auschwitz as a child growing up in New Jersey. But what I have seen here with my own eyes is worse than the Holocaust.”

Over 50 days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, the United Nations entity UN Women finally released a statement in December condemning the terror group’s assault against Israeli civilians and foreigners.  

“We unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October. We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks,” the statement read.