Hamas Chairman Ismail Haniyeh (Photo: Hamas)

Allegations of a cruel massacre and graphic accounts of the reportedly bloody aftermath were published online by global media within hours of what Israel later confirmed to be a precision strike on a Hamas command center situated within a school complex in Gaza on August 10.

The Associated Press led the charge, publishing its first story just an hour later that morning, describing the strike as “one of the deadliest attacks of the 10-month Israel-Hamas war.”

Relying on figures from the Hamas-run health authority, the AP claimed that at least 80 people had been killed, with nearly 50 others wounded.

In a subtle bit of editorializing, the AP suggested that innocent women and children were likely among the casualties, while also highlighting that this was the “latest of what the UN human rights office called ‘systematic attacks on schools’ by Israel,” reportedly leaving hundreds dead, including women and children.

Soon after, a more extensive AP story was prepared for syndication and subsequently repackaged and republished by the news service’s prominent media clients, including The Washington Post, NPR, and Politico.

Among those quoted in the AP’s more detailed report is Dr. Fadel Naim, described as the director of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, where many of the reported casualties were taken. Naim is quoted as saying his hospital received 70 bodies with what he claimed were the most severe injuries he had seen since the war began.

Naim’s comments were followed by testimony from “witness Abu Anas,” whom the AP mentions was clutching prayer beads as he recounted how multiple strikes hit people who were praying, washing, and sleeping upstairs, including children, women, and the elderly.

Yet a quick look into the online presence of Dr. Fadel Naim, the man the AP relied on for their Gaza death toll, reveals that in addition to being a medical professional, he is closely aligned with Hamas — so much so that Hamas’ recently-eliminated leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was a guest at his daughter’s wedding.

Deceased Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh at Naim’s daughter’s wedding

Meet Fadel Naim. He’s a doctor at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza (yes, the one that Israel was falsely accused of bombing). He’s a regular interviewee in Western media, such as in @guardian & @Reuters below.

But this doctor also openly celebrated the massacre of Jews on October 7. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/rv2gDKXSo7

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 12, 2024

He has also repeatedly expressed his admiration for Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, through numerous posts on his Facebook page, which resembles a shrine to Hamas and is steeped in antisemitic rhetoric.

In one particularly disturbing 2014 post, he invoked a prayer for Jews to be filled with fire.

Yet this individual — masked by the authority of his title as director of Al-Ahli Hospital — is whom the Associated Press relies on for reporting its death tolls.

This is the person from whom readers globally are receiving information and insight into the Israel-Hamas conflict: a man whose online presence is a testament to his unwavering support for the terrorist organization that initiated it.

More importantly, Naim can now be exposed as a major source of disinformation, having played a pivotal role in significantly inflating the death toll from the October 2023 explosion at the Al-Ahli Hospital and falsely accusing Israel of the strike — a tragedy that, in reality, involved a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that hit a car park and caused limited damage.

Naim was a source in AP’s coverage of October 2023 Al-Ahli Hospital explosion

In addition to expressing support for the October 7th massacre and being a purveyor of disinformation, as CAMERA and Honest Reporting demonstrated today, Dr. Naim is, at the very least, a big fan of Hamas. Here is what he wrote about Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin:

“Fourteen years… pic.twitter.com/nu2vAca5Vw

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) August 12, 2024

While the AP describes Naim as the hospital’s director, other outlets — such as The New York Times — refer to him as the head of orthopedic surgery in recent coverage. Meanwhile, Turkish news agency Anadolu reports that the director of Al-Ahli is Suhaila Tarazi, who has been quoted in numerous stories over the past few months.

In an interesting twist, Dr. Naim also goes by the name “Abu Anas” on his Facebook page — the very same name as an eyewitness quoted by AP in their report, who vividly described the devastation caused by the strikes.

While “Abu Anas” is undoubtedly a common name in Gaza, the coincidence is noteworthy. It’s hard not to find a bit of irony in the fact that both the eyewitness and the AP’s primary medical source share not only a name but also similarly dramatic accounts of destruction — accounts that were later disputed by Israel.

The AP is arguably the most influential news agency in the world, with its news copy read by millions globally. If only those readers knew who AP gets its information from: a man who has glorified violence, advocated for the death of Jews, encouraged innocent Palestinians to remain in harm’s way, and knowingly spread false information.

The Associated Press cites its mission statement to “advance the power of facts.” Its choice of Dr. Fadel Naim as a source certainly undermines that purported objective.

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.