Gigi and Bella Hadid‘s Palestinian father Mohamad has defended their social media posts about the war in Gaza, saying the pair ‘follow their intuition when it comes to human torture’.
Gigi yesterday apologized to followers and fans for not properly ‘fact checking’ her posts on the conflict. She had claimed that Israel is the ‘only country in the world that takes child prisoners of war’, and used Ahmed Manasra as an example.
In 2013, Manasra – then 12 – went on a stabbing rampage in Jerusalem.
His attack on a 13-year-old boy left him in critical condition. Manasra was released on November 25.
In an interview with Turkish news agency Andalou Agency yesterday, Mohamed Hadid defended his daughters’ social media posts about the conflict in Gaza
The Palestinian model accused Israel of committing crimes against Palestinian kids well before the deadly October 7 terrorist attack
After her mistake was pointed out to her, Hadid issued an apology and said she ‘regretted’ the example.
Speaking in an interview this week with Andalou Agency, a Turkish news outlet, Hadid defended Gigi, 28, and younger sister Bella, 27, who has also been outspoken about the conflict.
‘My kids always have followed their intuition when it comes to human torture and human nature – what happens to humans on earth. From the disaster in Turkey to the famine in Africa and homelessness in Southeast Asia, they have been involved in these things… building schools for UNICEF and so on.
Hadid posted a photo on Instagram falsely portraying Palestinian Ahmed Manasra as a ‘child prisoner of war’
Hadid also posted a reel to her Instagram story that claimed Israelis harvest the organs of dead Palestinians. The video was filmed by Malihai Henacho, a TikTok make-up artist from Cardiff who has been advocating for Palestinians since the beginning of the conflict. It was shared on an account run by a user called Umme_Murtazaa
‘It’s always been a humanitarian issue in their blood, nothing to do with being Palestinian,’ he said.
He was not asked specifically about their most recent posts.
Gigi sparked outrage with her Instagram story labeling Manasra a ‘child prisoner of war’.
She was also slammed for sharing a Reel in about Israelis harvesting Palestinian organs that had been posted online by a TikTok make-up artist from Cardiff, Wales.
Hadid with his four daughters, Gigi and Bella are shown, right
The video highlighted a documentary in which Israeli health officials talked about doctors harvesting organs from in the 1990s.
Some have accused Israel of continuing the practice until the early 2000s.
Today, there is no evidence that it is ongoing.
In her apology note, Hadid wrote: ‘It is important to me to share real stories about the hardships that Palestinians have endured and continue to endure, but this weekend I shared something that I did not fact check or think deeply about prior to reposting.
‘Unfortunately, I used the wrong example to make that point, and I regret that.’
Bella Hadid has also been outspoken in her support of Palestine since the conflict broke out.
In her first statement, she said that she condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 and would not support terror ‘regardless of the history of the land’.
Hadid, 74, with youngest daughter Bella. The pair are shown in Qatar last year