NYT Commits Blood Libel and Gets Caught

The New York Times published a photo–taking up nearly half the front page–showing what appears to be a child dying of starvation in Gaza. 

It shocked the world, as it should. It was horrific, if a bit weird, since the mother for some reason seemed well fed. 

After we exposed the lies and cynical exploitation of Gazan children who suffer from rare genetic diseases that cause their bodies to become severely emaciated, who have become symbols of hunger – the New York Times, one of the world’s largest newspapers that echoed this lie… pic.twitter.com/E4Bbx3Lkca

— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) July 30, 2025

After we exposed the lies and cynical exploitation of Gazan children who suffer from rare genetic diseases that cause their bodies to become severely emaciated, who have become symbols of hunger – the New York Times, one of the world’s largest newspapers that echoed this lie itself, published a clarifying tweet… The problem is that a week has passed, and after you publish the picture of a child like this on the cover, a small clarifying tweet doesn’t really help. This is how media outlets in the world that are supposed to be objective and balanced become tools for Hamas propaganda. Instead of having to apologize over and over again, take some advice – do your job, investigate, and publish only the truth and facts, even if it means that Israel is actually right.

It fed every narrative that Hamas and its supporters want you to believe, and did so in the most powerful way. Because a picture is not worth a thousand words, but millions of them. You cannot unsee a starving child. No amount of statistics can dissuade you from believing what your eyes show you, even if what they show you isn’t exactly real. 

The Times knew exactly what it was doing because the full photograph included the boy’s brother, who was not starving. In fact, two out of three people in the photo look perfectly healthy, but they could only cut one of them out, so they did.

The “starving” child is not starving. He suffers from a genetic disease, and he looks like that not because of Israel but because of his disease–and perhaps neglect by his mother, although I cannot say. 

Read the full story and Editors’ Note: https://t.co/SoNJ6S3PLh

— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 29, 2025

The Times doesn’t apologize for using a sensationalized photograph to mislead. They don’t even, in their statement, outline in what way the photograph deviates from reality. In fact, they use their “Editor’s Note” to double down on the original blood libel and to push the story a second time. 

“Sure, we got this totally wrong and in fact intentionally lied to you, but believe the rest of the story.”

This isn’t accountability—it’s hedging.

At @TheFP, we ask hard questions before we hit publish—and we aren’t afraid to issue corrections when we get things wrong. https://t.co/IOI3m91U4o

— Olivia Reingold (@Olivia_Reingold) July 30, 2025

The Times didn’t append this “Editor’s Note” because they learned new details and did more reporting. In fact, they were called out on the facts almost immediately, and remained silent and let the photo and story sink in. You can’t undo that photography, and they won’t take it back. 

In 2009, @nytimes published an op-ed by Rashid Khalidi attributing the following quote to former IDF chief of staff Moshe Yaalon:

“The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.”

The article went viral… https://t.co/mVx4Ads2JF

— Nathan Cofnas (@nathancofnas) July 30, 2025

The article went viral and was listed as the most-read article on the Times’s website for at least a week.

A day after it was published, I emailed the Times pointing out that the quote was fake. Yaalon actually said that Palestinians should understand that terrorism would not make Israelis into a defeated people.

21 days later, the Times plagiarized my letter, publishing it as an “editors’ note.” But they added an insinuation that there is a possibility that the quote is real (“Its original source has not been found”).

These mistakes only happen in one direction, and it’s been like this for a long time.

This, being the paper of Walter Duranty, should be expected, I suppose. But, to be honest, I am still shocked when I see such blatant, self-conscious propaganda from a “respectable” institution. I can’t get past the fact that I grew up being taught that the Times was liberal, yes, but still a news outlet. 

The New York Times: The child we used to indict Israel actually had severe pre-existing conditions. But hey — the photo worked, the outrage spread, and no one reads the corrections anyway.

War reporting as libel and malice. pic.twitter.com/8FG1rxN1mm

— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) July 30, 2025

It isn’t a news outlet. It revels in getting Pulitzers for printing lies. It protected Stalin and got a Pulitzer for it. It smeared Trump and almost destroyed his first term, and got a Pulitzer for it. 

The New York Times published an image of a child in Gaza, claiming the child was “malnourished” due to Israel, on its main account with 55 million followers.

Five days later, it quietly posted a correction, stating the child actually had a muscle condition, on its alternate… pic.twitter.com/yoTWrDCgc9

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 30, 2025

And now it is spreading a blood libel to protect Hamas. It will probably get a Pulitzer for that, too.