Shaun King Publishes Fake News About ‘Starved’ Palestinian Child with Genetic Disease Who Was Helped by Israel

Radical left-wing activist Shaun King published a photograph Wednesday of a supposedly “starving” Palestinian child in Gaza who actually had a genetic condition and was given medical treatment by Israel.

King published an article on his website, under the headline: “Adel Madi Was Starved to Death in Gaza Today. He Was 27 Years Old.” The sub-headline read: “His ribs and shoulder blades were pressing through his skin. His body didn’t just give up — it was stripped bare, cell by cell, for months. This was deliberate. And now some are trying to excuse it.” The article adds: “This is what the U.S. and Israel have done to Gaza.”

The reality, however, is different. The Israeli government — via the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid in Gaza — posted on X:

The Times of Israel added:

Israel claimed Thursday that a viral image of 14-year-old Palestinian boy Abdul Qader al-Fayoumi, who reportedly died of starvation in Gaza, is misleading, saying the teen suffered from a genetic neurological disorder and was treated in Israel in 2018.

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Images of emaciated Gazan children have heightened worldwide alarm and revulsion at the crisis, along with accusations that Israel is blocking food from reaching civilians there.

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Earlier this week, the IDF said another viral image of a skeletal Gazan child, 5-year-old Osama al-Rakab, was misleading, as he suffers from a serious genetic illness that is unrelated to the ongoing war, and is currently undergoing treatment abroad. And, following allegations of inaccuracy, The New York Times appended an editor’s note to an article about starvation in Gaza, acknowledging that a photo that ran on its front page featured another boy with “pre-existing health problems.”

Israel has surged humanitarian aid to Gaza, as the United Nations and other agencies have struggled to deliver it. Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza routinely attack aid trucks and loot them.

The United Nations refuses to work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by the U.S., and which protects its trucks with private security contractors, and has delivered about 100 million meals to Gaza.