Model Gigi Hadid posted a lengthy note to Instagram admitting she didn’t fact-check a now-deleted post about the Israel-Palestine conflict, but stopped short of actually apologizing.
The model, who has Palestinian lineage, admitted her previous post contained false information.
“It is important to me to share the real stories about the hardships that Palestinians have endured and continue to endure, but this weekend I shared something that I did not fact check or deeply think about prior to posting,” the model wrote.
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Hadid claimed Israel was the “only country in the world that keeps children as prisoners of war,” in the now-deleted post, Page Six reported.
The post also pointed a finger at Israelis for alleged “abduction, rape, humiliation, torture [and] murder of Palestinians years and years and years before Oct 7 2023,” according to Page Six.
Hadid had posted images of Ahmed Manasra, a Palestinian convicted of two counts of attempted murder at a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem who was sentenced to 12 years in prison. His lawyers reportedly disputed the charges. His charges were later reduced, according to Page Six. Amnesty International claimed Manasra developed schizophrenia and severe depression in prison, and went on to state that his “life is at risk if he remains in prison,” according to Page Six.
Hadid used this story as an example of “hundreds of Palestinian children [who] remain detained, suffering in Israeli jail,” without fully establishing the facts of the case, Page Six noted.
She faced immediate backlash, triggering her response.
Gigi Hadid admits she ‘did not fact check’ since-deleted post criticizing Israel https://t.co/8xAUZgHC0q pic.twitter.com/BO6SODrVAY
— Page Six (@PageSix) November 28, 2023
“I wanted to show the ways in which international law is being undermined by the Israeli government,” she wrote to social media. “In this case, I was trying to highlight how Palestinian children who are arrested by the [Israel Defense Forces] are often not given the same rights as an Israel child accused of the same crime would.”
She went on to admit she regretted using the “wrong example.”
“I regret that,” she added.
“I understand that with the power of my platform comes a huge responsibility. I’m human and I make mistakes,” she wrote.
“But I hold myself accountable for those mistakes,” Hadid said. (RELATED: Bella Hadid Breaks Her Silence After Receiving Death Threats For Supporting Palestine)
Further clarifying here stance, she wrote, “I do not stand behind the spreading of misinformation, and have always condemned using the Free Palestine movement as justification for anti-Semitism.”
The supermodel turned off the comments section, making it impossible for fans or critics to weigh in.