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Uncovering the Story Behind the Gazan ‘Mass Graves’
Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Over the past week, Palestinian teams have been unearthing mass graves outside two Gaza medical complexes, Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces who were conducting counter-terrorism operations in the area.
With the opening of these graves, social media and some traditional news outlets have been abuzz with claims that these graves are evidence of mass killings of Palestinians by Israelis, and that some of those found inside the graves show signs of being tortured and killed execution-style with their hands tied behind their backs.
However, much like other sensationalist news stories about Israel’s conduct during its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, the story of the mass graves being propounded online and by some media outlets is a mixture of deception, falsehoods, and a reliance on biased sources.
The mass grave lie is being promoted by Hamas and its Western propagandists to distract attention from the fact that Gaza hospitals have been proven, time and again, to host terrorists and terror activity.
Hospital directors have admitted as much.
Why isn’t that being reported? https://t.co/jHDVxBkjcQ pic.twitter.com/K5xoSnQuXX
— Avi Mayer אבי מאיר (@AviMayer) April 24, 2024
What Is the Story Behind the Mass Graves?
Much of the news regarding the mass graves has surrounded the exhumation of hundreds of bodies on the grounds of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
However, unlike what is being claimed, these mass graves were not dug by Israeli forces during their months-long siege and battle against Hamas terrorists operating within the medical complex.
Rather, these graves were dug by Palestinians prior to the arrival of the Israeli military in mid-February 2024.
Analysts have observed that these mass graves which are now being unearthed were documented as first being dug and used in late January and early February 2024 to bury people who had died in the hospital and could not be transported to a formal cemetery for internment.
As the battle between Israel and Hamas intensified around the medical complex, it is possible that newer bodies (of those who had been killed during the firefight or who had died at the hospital during the battle) were added to these mass graves. However, as noted by The Times of Israel, it is uncharacteristic for the IDF to “tend to the bodies of slain Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
Thus, if newer bodies were added to these mass graves over the course of the IDF’s operations in the area, it is likely that they were buried by Palestinians and not by Israelis.
1/5 Geolocation | Disproof of Palestinian lies about Nasser Hospital mass graves.
Fake claims by @tamerqdh about #IDF-caused massacre.
In Jan/Feb, this exact place was used by palestinians as temporary cemetry.
I found a burial video of 30+ persons on 28 January. >> https://t.co/l8UMI95NWA pic.twitter.com/k7Dnlo0RqV
— Middle East Buka (@MiddleEastBuka) April 22, 2024
Alongside the false claims that Israel had dug these mass graves, representatives of Hamas in Gaza and the Hamas-affiliated Civil Defense have claimed that Israel dug up graves in the Nasser Hospital complex and then re-buried the deceased in these mass graves.
However, according to the IDF, while Israeli forces did exhume certain graves in order to determine whether dead Israeli hostages had been buried by Hamas in these graves, they did not desecrate the graves nor remove identifying markers.
After it had been determined that no hostages were buried on the grounds, the exhumed bodies were re-interred in their burial locations “in an orderly and proper manner.”
The deceitful claim that the IDF buried Palestinians in mass graves, not based whatsoever on facts, is wrong.
See full statement: pic.twitter.com/WX7aVx8M1h
— LTC (S.) Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) April 23, 2024
A third claim that has been put forth about these mass graves is that some of the exhumed bodies have had their hands tied, allegedly proof for Israeli extrajudicial executions of Palestinians in the area.
However, there are several factors that call into question these allegations: No evidence has been provided for these claims, with only unverified reports alleging the existence of these bodies with their hands tied. These claims are not being put forward by impartial observers but by Hamas and its Gaza-based affiliates. If these bodies do exist, there is no evidence that Israel is responsible for their being bound.
Despite the lack of concrete evidence for the existence of these handcuffed corpses, even by a UN representative’s own admission, this has not stopped the UN from portraying their existence as solid fact, even headlining one of its releases “Mass graves in Gaza show victims’ hands were tied, says UN rights office.”
This unabashed reliance on Hamas reports has helped give these stories an air of legitimacy despite their being propounded by an internationally-recognized terror organization.
How Has the Media Covered the Mass Graves?
As the story of the mass graves continues to develop, media organizations have covered this story with varying levels of nuance and accuracy.
Predictably, Al Jazeera’s coverage was most in line with Hamas’ propaganda, uncritically parroting statements by the Civil Defense in Gaza as well as international leaders responding to the reports released by Hamas.
Only one paragraph is granted to the IDF’s denial that it had dug mass graves, and at no point is it stated as fact that these mass graves had been dug prior to the Israeli operation at Nasser Hospital.
In their reports, both Reuters and CNN provided fairly nuanced coverage, giving ample space to the IDF’s statements refuting the allegations against it, and admitting that some of the charges put forward by the Palestinians could not be substantiated.
However, in its coverage of the mass graves, the Associated Press provided a far less objective report, only including the IDF’s rebuttal seven paragraphs in, ignoring the fact that the reports on the mass graves were being released by a Hamas-affiliated body, and using the term “could not be independently verified” for Israel’s allegations but not those put forward by the Civil Defense or international bodies.
Thus, despite the unsubstantiated and biased information being released by the Civil Defense, AP treated it as fact while calling into question Israel’s response to these baseless allegations.
In its report on the mass graves, The Times presented the allegations of bodies with bound hands as established fact by quoting UN officials, despite the fact that these officials were basing themselves on Hamas reports and there was no physical evidence to corroborate these claims.
This is an appalling segment from @amanpour
It repeatedly cites the Gaza Civil Defense (that’s a fancy way of saying Hamas) and fails to mention that Hamas hid Israeli hostages in Gaza hospitals.
The IDF acknowledged that it examined bodies buried near Nasser Hospital when they… https://t.co/rmqTYOibUh
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) April 24, 2024
While the mainstream media coverage of the mass graves has featured various levels of nuance and objectivity, social media has served as a source for the most extreme takes on this subject, with many uncritically parroting Hamas’ claims and using them as a cudgel with which to harm Israel’s reputation and the IDF’s integrity.
If you’re more mad about the college campus protests against mass graves than against the mass graves themselves you should probably take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2024
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Uncovering the Story Behind the Gazan ‘Mass Graves’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Boulder Firebomber Charged With Murder Following Death of Victim
Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman poses for a jail booking photograph after his arrest in Boulder, Colorado, June 2, 2025. Photo: Boulder Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
A victim of the antisemitic Boulder, Colorado firebombing died on Monday, prompting local law enforcement to charge suspect Mohamed Soliman with murder in the first degree.
“Severe injuries” caused the death of Karen Diamond, 82, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office (BCDA) said on Monday in a statement. She was one of 13 people injured when Soliman hurled Molotov cocktails into a crowd of Jewish people who were participating in a demonstration to raise awareness of the hostages who remain imprisoned by Hamas in Gaza. Her death adds five new charges to the over 200 federal and state criminal charges which could lock Soliman away for over 600 years.
“These additional charges, including the counts of First Degree Murder, are being filed after consultation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Boulder Police Department,” said the DA’s office, adding that it “continues to work closely with federal, state, and local partners in the strong response to this attack. We stand united against acts of antisemitism and hate.”
“This horrific attack has now claimed the life of an innocent person who was beloved by her family and friends,” said Michal Dougherty, district attorney of Boulder County. “Our hearts are with the Diamond family during this incredibly difficult time. Our office will fight for justice for the victims, their loved ones, and the community. Part of what makes Colorado special is that people come together in response to a tragedy; I know that the community will continue to unite in supporting the Diamond family and all the victims of this attack.”
Prosecutors said in May that Soliman yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, and, according to court documents, told investigators that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people.”
That incident came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. The suspect charged for the double murder, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, also yelled “Free Palestine” while being arrested by police after the shooting, according to video of the incident. The FBI affidavit supporting the criminal charges against Rodriguez stated that he told law enforcement he “did it for Gaza.”
In Garret Park, Maryland, a middle-aged man, Clift A. Seferlis, was recently arrested by federal authorities for sending a series of threatening messages to Jewish organizations in Philadelphia. Seferlis referenced the war in Gaza in his communications.
“The Victim Jewish Institution 1 received numerous additional messages since April 1, 2024, which contained a threat to physically destroy the institution,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a statement. “Prior to the receipt of the May 7, 2025, mailing, Victim Jewish Institution 1 and its employees had received very similar-looking letters, believed to have been sent by Seferlis, which referenced Victim Jewish Institution 1’s ‘many big open windows,’ ‘Kristallnacht,’ ‘anger and rage,’ and a future need to ‘rebuild’ the institution following its destruction.”
Another antisemitic incident motivated by anti-Zionism occurred in San Francisco, where Juan Diaz-Rivas, Alejandro Flores-Lamas, and others law enforcement is working to identify, allegedly beat up a Jewish victim in the middle of the night. Diaz-Rivas and Flores-Lamas, along with their associates, approached the victim while shouting “F—ck the Jews, Free Palestine,” according to the office of the San Francis district attorney.
“[O]ne of them punched the victim, who fell to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “Allegedly, Mr. Diaz-Rivas and others in the group continued to punch and kick the victim while he was down. A worker at a nearby business heard the altercation and antisemitic language and attempted to intervene. While trying to help the victim, he was kicked and punched.”
According to data released by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in April, antisemitism in the US is surging to break “all previous annual records.”
In 2024 alone, the ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, an eruption of hatred not recorded in the nearly thirty years since the organization began tracking such data in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all increased by double digits, and for the first time ever a majority of outrages — 58 percent — were related to the existence of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state.
The Algemeiner parsed the ADL data, finding dramatic rises in incidents on college campuses, which saw the largest growth in 2024. The 1,694 incidents tallied by the ADL amounted to an 84 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, antisemites were emboldened to commit more offenses in public in 2024 than they did in 2023, perpetrating 19 percent more attacks on Jewish people, pro-Israel demonstrators, and businesses perceived as being Jewish-owned or affiliated with Jews.
“In 2024, hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the US, with more than half of all antisemitic incidents referencing Israel or Zionism,” Oren Segal, ADL senior vice president for counter-extremism and intelligence, said when the report was released. “These incidents, along with all those documented in the audit, serve as a clear reminder that silence is not an option. Good people must stand up, push back, and confront antisemitism wherever it appears. And that starts with understanding what fuels it and learning to recognize it in all its forms.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The US State Department has revoked the visas for the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan amid ongoing outrage over their weekend performance at the Glastonbury Festival, in which the pair chanted “Death to the IDF.”
The State Department’s decision to cancel their visas would preclude a planned fall concert tour of the US by the British rappers.
“The [US State Department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X/Twitter on Monday.
During a June 28 set at Glastonbury Festival, Bob Vylan’s Pascal Robinson-Foster ignited a firestorm by leading the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. He also complained about working for a “f—ing Zionist” during the set.
The video of the performance went viral, sparking outrage across the globe.
The BBC, which streamed the performance live, issued an on‑screen warning but continued its broadcast, prompting criticism by government officials for failing to cut the feed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and festival organizers condemned the IDF chant as hate speech and incitement to violence. The Israeli Embassy in London denounced the language as “inflammatory and hateful.”
“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” the BBC said in a statement following the event.
“These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces … have no place in any civil society,” Leo Terrell, Chair of the US Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, declared Sunday in a statement posted on X.
Citing the act’s US tour plans, Terrell said his task force would be “reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.”
British authorities, meanwhile, have launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are reviewing footage and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether the performance constitutes a hate crime or incitement to violence.
United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier entertainment talent agencies, dropped the duo, claming “antisemitic sentiments expressed by the group were utterly unacceptable.”
The band defended their performance on social media as necessary protest, stating that “teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”
The post US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
US House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) urged Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani to “aggressively address the rise in antisemitism” if he wins the general election in November.
“‘Globalizing the intifada’ by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”
“With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he added.
Jeffries’s comments come as Mamdani has been receiving an onslaught of criticism for defending the controversial phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Mamdani first defended the phrase during an appearance on the popular Bulwark Podcast. The progressive firebrand stated that he feels “less comfortable with the banning of certain words.” He invoked the US Holocaust Museum in his defense, saying that the museum used the word intifada “when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means ‘struggle.’”
The Holocaust Museum repudiated Mamdani in a statement, calling his comments “offensive.”
Mamdani has continued to defend the slogan despite ongoing criticism, arguing that pro-Palestine advocates perceive it as a call for “universal human rights.”
Mamdani, the 33‑year‑old state assembly member and proud democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in a lopsided first‑round win in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor, notching approximately 43.5 percent of first‑choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.
The election results have alarmed members of the local Jewish community, who expressed deep concern over his past criticism of Israel and defense of antisemitic rhetoric.
“Mamdani’s election is the greatest existential threat to a metropolitan Jewish population since the election of the notorious antisemite Karl Lueger in Vienna,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in New York City, said in a statement. “Jewish leaders must come together as a united force to prevent a mass Jewish Exodus from New York City.”
Some key Democratic leaders in New York, such as US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have congratulated and complimented Mamdani, but have not yet issued an explicit endorsement. Each official has signaled interest in meeting with Mamdani prior to making a decision on a formal endorsement.
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