Gigi Hadid Says Israel Is “Only Country” Keeping Children As Prisoners Of War, Faces Backlash
Palestinian-American supermodel Gigi Hadid is facing outrage on social media after her recent comments on the Israel-Hamas war.
The 28-year-old supermodel has been vocal about her opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Ms Hadid claimed that Israel had killed, tortured, raped, abducted, and humiliated Palestinians ‘years and years and years’ before Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7, which left approximately 1,200 dead.
She wrote that Israel is the “only country in the world” keeping children as prisoners of war. Ms Hadid’s post also featured Ahmed Almanasra, who Israeli police arrested at age 13 after the Palestinian and his brother stabbed a 20-year-old security guard and 13-year-old boy, according to ABC News. He received a sentence of 12 years in prison and it was later reduced to 9.5 years.
Her post further claimed the “Israel occupation” abducted and subjected Almanasra to solitary confinement despite his “severe health condition,” while also alleging “hundreds of Palestinian children remain detained, suffering in Israeli jails.”
Ms Hadid also reposted a video claiming Israel harvests the organs of Palestinians, the media outlet reported. The video claims that “health officials admitted that Israeli authorities had harvested the organs of dead Palestinians for years without their consent.”
Ms Hadid’s stance stirred outrage on social media, and several users demanded that her modelling agency, IMG, terminate her contract.
According to the New York Post, last month, Ms Hadid reposted a graphic on her Instagram story that read, “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas.”
Responding to her post, the State of Israel said, “There is nothing valiant about Hamas’ massacre of Israelis. Condemning Hamas for what it is (ISIS) is not anti-Palestine and supporting Israelis in their right against barbaric terrorists is the right thing to do.”