Al Jazeera Removes Video Alleging Israelis Raped Women In Gaza As Former Managing Director Calls Claims ‘Fabricated’

Tim Brakemeier/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

Qatari-owned broadcast outlet Al Jazeera on Monday removed a video testimony from a woman claiming Israeli soldiers raped women during an operation in Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital. The video’s removal coincided with Al Jazeera’s former managing director Yasser Abu Hilalah writing on X that the testimony had been “fabricated,” according to “Hamas investigations.”

Over the weekend, claims that Israeli soldiers had committed rape in Gaza spread like wildfire across social media with Al Jazeera and prominent pro-Palestinian accounts pushing the incendiary claim.

“Hamas investigations revealed that the story of the rape of women in Shifa Hospital was fabricated. Of course, the enemy did not hesitate to commit the crime of genocide,” Hilalah, who is still a columnist at Al Jazeera, wrote on Sunday night.

“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!” he added.

Al Jazeera’s original report based on Jamila al-Hissi’s “testimony” included her claiming that she saw IDF soldiers “raping women then killing them and burning entire families alive.” Al-Hissi’s claims echoed the atrocities committed by Hamas gunmen against Israeli civilians on October 7th.

The Times of Israel reported on Monday that while Al Jazeera had not issued an official retraction the video clip of Al-Hissi’s testimony had been removed from the report – although some of her quotes remained. The Jerusalem Post added that “all content related to the allegation has been reportedly deleted” and that a pro-Hamas cleric in Gaza slammed the story, saying “this creates panic and fear” and “makes [Palestinians] feel despair and frustration at a time when we are most in need for stability and reassurance.”

Lt. Col. Avichai Adraee, The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson, condemned the Al Jazeera report saying that “there is no evidence for these allegations. One woman called and said she was calling from the so-called medical complex. No one knows who she is. She just claimed and claimed and lied.”

“Let Al Jazeera and the mouthpieces of Hamas take this lie and spread it,” Adraee added, arguing that Al Jazeera was attempting to justify “the acts of rape, massacres and arson” committed on October 7th.