Social media users widely relayed a rumour that a Gazan medical student was amongst 70 men arrested by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on December 14 near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, in the north of the Gaza Strip. The student in question, Nasr Imad Al-Madhoun, finally spoke out, saying that he wasn’t one of the people in the photos published by the IDF. Our team spoke to Al-Madhoun, who said people should be careful to "verify information" before sharing it because "sharing fake information doesn’t help our cause at all."
The IDF carried out a raid on December 12 on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, the only health centre still operating in the north of the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, the hospital was also serving as a command centre for Hamas and, as a result, it has since been razed.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, announced on December 14 on his X account the arrests of 70 Hamas “terrorists”, near the hospital. His post also featured videos and photos that were said to show the people who had been arrested.
One of the photos shows four men apparently surrendering. Their chests are bare and they hold their arms, and their rifles, above their heads. According to social media users, human rights organisations and several Palestinian media outlets, the third man from the left in the photo was identified as a Gazan medical student named Nasr Imad Al-Madhoun. They also reported that he was volunteering at Kamal Adwan Hospital when he was arrested.
“In this picture published by Israel arguing they were fighters, we have identified the medical doctor Naser Imad Almadhoun, and a nurse working in Kamal Edwan Hospital,” wrote Ramy Abdul, the chairman of the NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, in a post in English, which garnered more than 300,000 views.
A post in Arabic, which garnered nearly 200,000 views, reads: “The medical intern (in this photo) was forced to pose with a weapon and pretend to be a Hamas fighter surrendering to the Israeli Army. Nasr Imad Al-Madhoun was at Kamal Adwan Hospital when the Israeli forces sieged the hospital and kidnapped the medical staff. They are so stupid that they didn’t even think we might be able to recognise people.”
However, on December 18, Nasr Imad Al-Madhoun himself posted a message on his X account. He began the post with a quote from the prophet Mohammed, which translates roughly as “For a person to be called a liar, all he has to do is pass on everything that he has heard.” He then added, “That’s true of the many activists who share information without verifying it.”
“My name is Nasr, my family and I are doing well. The photo below, on the right, is not mine and I never studied or worked in that hospital. I wasn’t able to refute the fake information immediately because of an internet blackout.”
'Sharing fake information doesn’t help our cause at all'
Our team spoke to Nasr Imad Al-Madhoun, who confirmed that he did indeed write that tweet. He shared a photo of his identity card, issued by the Palestinian Authority. He told us that he had contacted several accounts that published the false information and some of them erased it. He also forwarded us a written statement that we’ve published here.
I am Nasr Imad Al-Madhoun, a fifth-year medical student at the Islamic University. I refute the claims that I was arrested and that I was in training or volunteering at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
I only found out the news after it had been circulating for three days because of internet blackouts in the area where I have been displaced. This news caused my friends and family a lot of stress, especially because of the breakdown in the network and the fact that they couldn’t reach me.
In closing, I advise all activists to be careful when they see any news and to verify it, especially if it concerns a specific person. Sharing false information doesn’t help our cause at all and opens the door to suspicion towards real news about people’s suffering.
He also explained more in a post on X:
I am speaking out about this fake news so that the true identity of this oppressed person – whose identity remains unknown – will be known and that the support and solidarity are aimed in the right direction, towards the right person.
In response to this post, some people have attacked me for refuting the news and that proves that their authors [like what is] ‘trending’, even if it is an error, [they think that this is] more important than supporting truly oppressed people.
As for the people arrested on December 14 near Kamal Adwan Hospital, and who appear in the images, the spokesperson for the Israeli Army said on X that they were taken for questioning.
Massive arrests since early December
The IDF arrested several dozen Palestinians who they claimed were “terrorists” on December 7 in Beit Lahya in the north of Gaza. Images of them naked, on their knees, with blindfolds on were widely shared on social media by pro-Israeli accounts.
Read moreGaza: What do we know about these images of Palestinians arrested by the IDF?
