Despite international journalists and news agencies debunking
allegations that Palestinian resistance group Hamas "beheaded babies" in Israel, the claim continued to make headlines on Wednesday in Israeli and Western media, receiving millions of social media views.
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Israeli news channel i24 alleged on Tuesday morning that the Al-Qassam Brigades, "beheaded many Israeli babies" during an early-Saturday attack from the Gaza Strip.
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He added that
Israel uses false claims to intensify the bombing of Gaza and to "justify its war crimes."
Failure of British press
Almost
a dozen British newspapers — including The Times, Metro, The i, Daily Express, The Scotsman, and Financial Times — have run stories on their front pages Wednesday, citing the i24 claims.
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i24 enjoys close ties with Netanyahu, military
Israeli newspaper Haaretz previously reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was indicted on several corruption charges, has leveraged the issuance of a broadcasting license to i24 in exchange for favorable coverage.
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The original story was based on a report by i24NEWS correspondent Nicole Zedek, who reported from Kfar Aza.
"She also stated on X that some babies heads had been cut off. However, those reports, which came from an IDF soldier(s), have in some cases morphed and gone viral," Jones said.
"Some outlets are reporting '40 babies killed', or '40 babies beheaded', while some are reporting '40 babies killed, some beheaded'. Neither the 40 babies being killed and/or beheaded has been independently verified."
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