Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat representing Minnesota, has a history of making anti-Semitic comments. She recently promoted false claims made by the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry regarding an incident in Gaza where they alleged that Israel bombed a hospital, resulting in over 500 deaths.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) provided evidence contradicting this narrative. They showed that the explosion was not caused by an aerial bomb, and it did not even hit the hospital; instead, it occurred in a parking lot. Intercepted communications from Hamas militants confirmed that the explosion was caused by a rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
U.S. intelligence further corroborated these findings, stating that they had satellite and infrared data showing a rocket launch from Palestinian fighter positions within Gaza.
Omar shared these false claims on her Twitter account, asserting that bombing a hospital is a grave war crime and calling for an immediate ceasefire. She cited a post from the Associated Press reporting that the Gaza Health Ministry claimed the hospital was struck by an Israeli airstrike.
Following significant backlash over her inaccurate statements, Omar attempted to backtrack by suggesting that she may not have personally authored the tweet and tried to shift responsibility to the Associated Press.
She acknowledged the unreliability of information during wartime, especially on platforms like Twitter, and called for credible sources and acknowledgment of new reports. However, she did not retract her claims, delete them, or issue an apology. Instead, she called for a fully independent investigation to determine responsibility for the alleged war crime.
Critics pointed out that Omar was quick to condemn Israel but suddenly urged caution and the avoidance of misinformation once it became evident that the group she defended was accountable for the incident.