Hamas admits claim IDF raped Palestinians was false – here’s why they changed tune

Lie about IDF soldiers sexually assaulting Palestinian women was meant to “unite the people,” says journalist.

By World Israel News Staff

The Hamas terror group and Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera have admitted that a report about IDF soldiers raping Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip was a lie, after the claim sparked mass panic in the coastal enclave.

On Sunday, Al Jazeera published a story in Arabic which falsely stated that Israeli soldiers had sexually assaulted women at Al-Shifa Hospital.

The medical center is the site of an military operation, which has so far led to the arrest of hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.

The report created a frenzy in the Strip, with security blogger Abu Ali Express reporting that hundreds of families fled from north and central Gaza to the south, fearing that their female family members would be assaulted.

Beyond sparking a large migration towards the already crowded south, many Gazans were also enraged by what they believed was a failure by Hamas to protect the honor of Palestinian women.

Following the mass panic, Hamas and Al Jazeera were forced to walk back the falsehood in order to calm public spirits.

“It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Al-Shifa Hospital was fabricated,” tweeted Jordanian journalist Yasser Abuhilalah, who is senior writer at Al Jazeera.

Abuhilalah said that the woman who had lied to Al Jazeera had positive intentions. Her “goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood,” he explained.

Notably, Al Jazeera did not issue a formal retraction of the story and clarify that it was false, in line with standard journalistic practices.

Instead, the outlet deleted all traces of the story from its website and social media accounts.

Despite the admission that the story was false, many pro-Palestinian activists continue promoting the lie that Israeli soldiers sexually abused Palestinian women.

One U.S. State Department official even presented the lies as factual when speaking with an Israeli military representative.