"I deeply regret using an inappropriate example to convey my point," the Palestinian-descent supermodel confessed on her Instagram account, facing a barrage of criticism for a now-deleted post. Gigi Hadid, who proudly traces her roots to Palestine, has retracted her erroneous assertion that Israel is the "sole nation in the world" incarcerating children as prisoners of war.
In her now-deleted Instagram post, Hadid had cited the case of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Manasra as an example. Ahmad, arrested at the tender age of 13 by Israeli authorities, was sentenced to 12 years in prison (later reduced to 9.5 years) for stabbing a 20-year-old Israeli security guard and a 13-year-old boy in Jerusalem, along with his brother.
Her post emerged amidst the Israel-Hamas hostage truce, which entered its fifth day on Tuesday, as Israel swapped captives held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas and other militants continue to detain 159 hostages out of the initial 240 abducted from southern Israel during the October 7 terrorist attack that sparked the ongoing conflict. Among them are approximately 30 children.
Hadid faced a backlash for her post, accused of spreading misinformation and antisemitism, including rebukes from Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli and music mogul Scooter Braun. Braun wrote, "I know people mean well, but when you claim a child was abducted, and it turns out to be a teenager who willingly stabbed two innocent civilians, including a 12-year-old, on camera, and later stated, 'I wanted to stab Jews,' let's get our facts straight before posting to 78 million people." He was referencing Manasra and Hadid's vast social media following.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Hadid acknowledged, "My intention was to draw attention to how international law is being violated by the Israeli government. In this instance, I aimed to highlight how Palestinian children arrested by the Israeli Defense Forces often do not receive the same rights as an Israeli child accused of a similar offense. Unfortunately, I chose an inappropriate example to illustrate this point, and I deeply regret that."
She also condemned violence from all sides in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. "My focus was meant to be solely on human rights issues," Hadid stated. "That is why I must that attacking any human being, including Jewish individuals, is NEVER acceptable. Taking innocent lives hostage is NEVER acceptable. Targeting someone solely because they are Jewish is NEVER acceptable. It is wrong."
She argued that children, whether Israeli or Palestinian, deserve equal human rights. "A Palestinian child, even if accused of a heinous crime, deserves the same rights as an Israeli child would in similar circumstances," she insisted.
Hadid, whose father, Mohamed Hadid, is a Palestinian immigrant and practicing Muslim, has previously spoken out against the targeting of innocent civilians on all sides following the Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7. Since then, she has faced criticism from the Israeli government for her social media posts amidst the ongoing war.
The deadly October 7 attacks near the Gaza border resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians. Israel retaliated against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, declaring a formal war, with a cumulative death toll of approximately 14,800 Palestinians, according to the latest tally from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Hadid and her younger sister, Bella Hadid, have a longstanding history of supporting the Palestinian cause.
