FACT CHECK: Did The New York Times Retract Its Story On Hamas And Sexual Violence?
A post shared on X, formerly Twitter, claims The New York Times retracted its story on Hamas and sexual violence the terror group allegedly committed during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
New York Times story claiming October 7th Hamas rape suddenly gets retracted: no proof, all fake & interview was done under false pretences https://t.co/XWEKlKnne9
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) January 3, 2024
Verdict: False
The outlet has not retracted its story on sexual violence and Oct. 7.
Fact Check:
The New York Times published an article Dec. 28 detailing allegations of Hamas raping, mutilating and committing other acts of sexual violence against Israeli women on Oct. 7.
Social media users are sharing claims that The New York Times retracted this story. One user wrote, “New York Times story claiming October 7th Hamas rape suddenly gets retracted: no proof, all fake & interview was done under false pretences.”
This claim, however, is false. Check Your Fact reviewed The New York Times article and did not find any corrections or retractions stating that Hamas never raped or sexually violated anyone on October 7. The outlet has not visibly updated its article, nor does it appear that any substantial changes were made since it was published on Dec. 28.
The article linked in the original post is from Mondoweiss, an anti-Zionist news website. In the article, it links to interviews and comments made by members of Gal Abdush’s family, who criticized the NYT article and denied that she was raped. The New York Times spoke extensively with Abdush’s family in its Dec. 28 article.
A New York Times spokesperson said that “we stand by our report” in an email to Check Your Fact. (RELATED: Image Of Israeli Soldiers Celebrating Hanukkah Appears To Be AI-Generated)
“This is an important investigation that outlines multiple allegations of horrific sexual violence against women and details what is known, and still unknown, about what took place on October 7. We stand by our report and the journalists who spent months speaking with witnesses and grieving family members, including Ms. Abdush’s parents and sisters, to tell this story,” the spokesperson said.
