Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shihab on Lebanon's Mayadeen TV accusing Israel's soldiers of preparing bread dough to eat with Arab blood. Photo: Screenshot / MEMRI.

“I would just like to remind you of the ruling by the Israeli rabbis, who have instructed the soldiers to knead the [dough for] the bread that the Jews eat with the blood of Arab and Palestinian children,” said Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shihab in a televised interview on Lebanon’s Mayadeen TV on Wednesday.

MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, on Friday published a translation of the clip.

The “blood libel” is a frequent theme in Arab media. It builds on myths from the Middle Ages that Jews need a victim’s blood to bake the Passover matzah. It runs counter to one of the main tenets of kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws, which forbid Jews from eating any blood whatsoever. Never mind blood, matzah can only be considered kosher if baked with its two ingredients, water and flour.

Besides the calumny against Jews, Shihab also said of the current Israeli war against Hamas: “What makes this war special is the legendary Palestinian heroism and steadfastness, which is unprecedented in the history of this struggle. This could be what makes this war special,” tying into concerns expressed within Israel’s military on Thursday that PIJ and Hamas plan to extend their war as long as possible, turning “a flare-up in violence” into a historic “war for independence.”

Gaza was granted sovereignty from Israel in 2005, when all of the region’s Jews left the Mediterranean enclave, and in 2007 Hamas was elected to rule. The militant group destroyed the Jewish-built infrastructure and used donated construction materials to build a vast, underground tunnel system, rather than new hospitals or schools.

Watch the PIJ spokesman accuse Israel of the “blood libel.”