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Dr. Fadel Naim, the man AP relied on for their Gaza death toll in story accusing Israel of ‘attack on school,’ even hosted the former Hamas leader at his daughter’s wedding.
By Rachel O’Donoghue, HonestReporting
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 over 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 Palestinian health authorities, AP claimed that at least 80 people had been killed, with nearly 50 others wounded.
In a subtle bit of editorializing, AP suggested that innocent women and children were likely among the casualties, while also highlighting that this was the “latest of what the U.N. 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 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 described as the most severe injuries he had seen since the war began.
Naim’s comments are followed by testimony from “witness Abu Anas,” whom 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.
A quick look into the online presence of Dr. Fadel Naim, the man 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 the recently-eliminated Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was a guest at his daughter’s wedding.
On October 7, 2023, Dr. Naim celebrated the Hamas massacre that initiated the conflict by posting an image of paragliders over a map of Israel, accompanied by a religious call to arms. The following day, he escalated his rhetoric, urging Gazan civilians to ignore Israeli evacuation warnings for areas targeted by airstrikes—essentially encouraging higher civilian casualties to serve propaganda efforts.
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 is the individual—masked by the authority of his title as director of Al-Ahli—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 Islamic Jihad rocket that hit a car park and caused limited damage.
While 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 AP’s primary medical source share not only a name but also similarly dramatic accounts of destruction—accounts that were later disputed by Israel.
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.
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