Reports of Israeli Babies Beheaded by Hamas Spark Skepticism, Doubt from Online Pundits

Multiple X users compared the claim to the false Nayirah testimony that rallied U.S. support for Gulf War

By Chris Karr  |  October 10, 2023

Widespread reports that babies in southern Israel were beheaded by Hamas infiltrators have been met with a wave of skepticism from online pundits.

The revelation appears to originate from Nicole Zedek, a reporter for the Israeli-based network i24 News, who made the claim in a now viral video on X.

“It’s hard to even explain exactly just the mass casualties that happened right here,” Zedek says from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, an area in southern Israel that lies a quarter mile from the Gaza border.

“In fact, the Israeli military says they still don’t have a clear number [of casualties], but I’m talking to some of the soldiers and they say what they’ve witnessed, as they’ve been walking through these different houses, these different communities, uh – babies, their heads cut off,” she continued. “That’s what they said.”

The print version of Zedek’s report claims that the victims included “about 40 babies and small children – some with their heads chopped off.”

In a second video posted by i24 News’ English X account, David Ben Zion, Deputy Commander of Unit 71 for the Israeli Defense Forces, relayed a similar account to Zedek.

“We walk door after door,” he says. “We killed a lot of the terrorists. We are stronger than them, they are aggressive. They are very bad. They cut head off children, cut head off woman. But we are stronger than them.”

Within hours of the report’s release, the term “Babies” was trending on X with over half a million posts – the vast majority of which referred to the ghastly claims in Zedek’s report.

Though many users expressed outrage and horror in response to the claims, others voiced skepticism and doubt.

Journalist Max Blumenthal, editor-in-chief of the independent media outlet The Grayzone, pointed out that Zedek appeared to modify her claim in a subsequent post.

“So far, the lone source for the claim that 40 babies were beheaded and/or killed by Gaza militants was [Zedek],” he wrote. “She’s since issued a clarification stating death toll is ‘unknown.’”

Other users questioned if the report of decapitated babies was an attempt to rally support for U.S. intervention and drew comparisons to the false Nayirah testimony that preceded escalation of the Gulf War under President George H. W. Bush.

On Oct. 10, 1990, exactly 33 years ago, a 15-year-old girl named Nayirah testified before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus that she witnessed Iraqi soldiers remove babies from incubators and leave them to die in Kuwait.

Two years later, it was revealed that Nayirah was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S.

“According to the New York Times in 1992, the girl’s testimony was actually orchestrated by the big public relations firm Hill & Knowlton on behalf of a client, the Kuwaiti-sponsored Citizens for a Free Kuwait. The client’s aim was to secure military support from the U.S. through raising awareness about the dangers posed to Kuwait by Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein,” per Citizen Truth.

BBC reports that Bush “publicly touted this tall tale at least six times as he blew the bugle of war.”

“People who lived through the ‘incubator babies’ lies falling for the now ‘decapitated babies’ propaganda has to be peak fail for the U.S. populace,” said RT journalist Fiorella Isabel.

“Throughout the fake ‘Hamas beheaded 40 children’ psyop, there wasn’t a single image of one of the supposed beheaded babies, no images of them when they were alive, no names nor ages, and no parents family members or came forward to say their child had been beheaded,” wrote Redacted correspondent Dan Cohen. “It was all based on unverified claims and ‘beliefs’ from the Israeli military.”

“Are you referring to the same corporate news media outlets that reported on babies being taken from incubators, WMD, or shelving the Jeffery Epstein story, a likely Mossad agent? Those guys?” asked another X user.

An Anadolu report published Tuesday afternoon said an Israeli army spokesperson confirmed that they have no information confirming allegations that “Hamas beheaded babies.”

When the outlet contacted the spokesperson for comment, she replied, “We have seen the news, but we do not have any details or confirmation about that.”

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