Jerusalem deputy mayor referred to Hamas militants as 'subhuman' in X post | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Jerusalem’s deputy mayor referred to Hamas militants as ‘Muslim Nazis’ and ‘subhuman’

A Dec. 8 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes a screenshot of inflammatory remarks purportedly from an Israeli official.

“The @idfonline is eliminating Muslim Nazis,” reads the start of a post in Hebrew attributed to Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“They aren’t human beings and not human animals,” the post goes on to say. “They’re subhuman and that’s how they should be treated.”

It was shared nearly 500 times in three days. Other versions of the claim received hundreds of thousands of additional interactions on Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok.

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Our rating: True

King did post the comments attributed to him, he confirmed to USA TODAY.

King says translations are accurate, calls for Hamas militants to get a 'death sentence'

King's Dec. 8 Hebrew-language post was removed by X for violating its rules, according to a message left in place of the post.

King confirmed the translations shared widely on social media were accurate in an email to USA TODAY. He also reiterated the descriptions of Hamas terrorists and called for them to receive "death sentences."

Translations of the post from Google and Yandex also match the quotations in the social media posts.

In a Facebook post, King also acknowledged the X statement had been removed. Several of his X posts that remained visible as of Dec. 14 included variations of the term “Nazi Muslims.”

King's post connected the comments to Palestinian men the Israeli military detained and stripped in Gaza, which were shown in photos accompanying the text.

Israeli officials and media have described the group as Hamas militants, though relatives of the men have said that claim is false, the Washington Post reported. Some of the men have been released, the newspaper reported. The pictures have drawn international criticism, including State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller calling the photos of Palestinian detainees stripped to their underwear "deeply disturbing."

Fact check: Baseless claim Israeli defense minister said country 'abolished' rules of war

Around 1,200 people were killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, USA TODAY reported. The resulting Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 17,000 people in Gaza, according to December figures released by the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-controlled territory.

Israeli soldiers take positions near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel.
Israeli soldiers take positions near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel.

Though the claims regarding King's X post are true, USA TODAY has debunked an array of false claims stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, including that Starbucks is closing stores in Morocco and San Francisco because of pro-Palestinian boycotts, that an image shows an Israeli newspaper headline declaring Israeli short-sellers profited from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and that a video shows the Israel Defense Forces raising the Israeli flag over Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yes, Israeli official called Hamas militants 'subhuman' | Fact check