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Israel-Hamas war: No independent confirmation of 'beheaded babies' yet, as quotation marks start to appear on global media

Amid unverified claims of 'beheaded babies' following a Hamas attack in Israel, media outlets began using quotation marks when referring to the term

KFAR AZA, ISRAEL: Amid the ongoing confusion surrounding the lack of confirmation about 'beheaded babies' in Israel following Hamas' surprise attack on October 7, several global media networks have started using quotation marks while referring to the term, 'beheaded babies.'

The unverified claim regarding '40 beheaded babies' gained momentum after Israeli reserve soldier, David Ben Zion, claimed Palestinian militants 'cut heads of children' while speaking to reporter Nicole Zedeck for an interview with Israel's i24News network. 

Zedeck's report went viral among Western media networks. Meanwhile, the claim was reiterated by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as US President Joe Biden before the White House walked back on the latter's remark. 

Questions regarding the verification of the claim arose amid the lack of independent confirmation and conflicting reports about babies being 'beheaded' in Israel amid Hamas' attack.

While the official account of the Israeli PM took to X, formerly Twitter, to share graphic and horrifying photos of "babies murdered and burned" by Hamas, the world is continuing to wait for the verification regarding the claim of 'beheaded babies.' 

Global media uses quotation marks to refer to 'beheaded babies' amid unverified claims

Zion's interview with i24's Zedeck was one of the first major sources to report on the claim of 'beheaded babies' in Israel. 

"We walked door to door, we killed a lot of terrorists. They are very bad. They cut heads of children, they cut heads of women. But we are stronger than them," Zion told Zedeck while speaking about Palestinian militants.

Following his interview, Zedeck shared a live report, saying, "About 40 babies were taken out on gurneys… Cribs overturned, strollers left behind, doors left wide open."

As the report went viral, Zedeck clarified that "soldiers told me they believe 40 babies/children were killed."

"The exact death toll is still unknown as the military continues to go house to house and find more Israeli casualties," she further mentioned. 

Meanwhile, Israeli journalist Oren Ziv alleged that they did not see "any evidence" of babies being 'beheaded' while on a visit to the Kfar Aza kibbutz. 

CNN correspondent, Hadas Gold, said that they received a report from the Israeli Prime Minister's office that babies were 'beheaded' in Israel.

The report was further shared by the State of Israel's official X account with the caption, "They decapitated babies and toddlers."

However, the network soon shared an X post that read, "Israel cannot confirm the specific claim that babies were beheaded in Hamas' attack, an official says, contradicting previous public statement." 

An Israeli official told the publication, "There have been cases of Hamas militants carrying out beheadings and other ISIS-style atrocities. However, we cannot confirm if the victims were men or women, soldiers or civilians, adults or children."

The Daily Mail reported that Israeli Defence Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus claimed that a coroner who witnessed the aftermath of the attack after visiting a kibbutz close to the Gaza Strip saw the children's bodies and confirmed their cause of death. 

"I admit it took us some time to really understand and to verify that report and it was hard to believe that even Hamas could perform such a barbaric act," Conricus mentioned. 

"I think we can now say, with relative confidence, that this is what Hamas did... there were bodies scattered everywhere, mutilated," the IDF spokesman added. 

However, the publication also reported that another IDF spokesman, Maj Doron Spielman, reportedly told NBC News that he could not confirm how many babies had been beheaded during Hamas' attack.

"What I can confirm is there were enormous witness testimonies along with evidence found in the field that there were children that were grotesquely murdered and their body parts were removed," Spielman said. 

Amid the different claims about the beheading of children without independent verification, some global media networks began using the term 'beheaded babies' within quotation marks. 

"Israel releases images of babies murdered and burned by Hamas as 'verified photos' of others beheaded by terrorists are 'confirmed' by local media and rescue team reveals pregnant woman 'had child sliced from her womb'," the title of a Daily Mail article about the photos from the Israel PM's X account read. 

"Israeli PM's office releases graphic photos purporting to show Hamas 'murdered and burned' babies," a Fox News headline mentioned. 

"Unverified reports of '40 babies beheaded' in Israel-Hamas war inflame social media," wrote NBC News in the headline of one of its recent stories.

"Beheaded babies" report spread wide and fast — but Israel military won’t confirm it," an article title from The Intercept read.

Internet continues to be troubled over 'beheaded babies' claim 

Social media users continued to express their concern over the lack of verification surrounding the claim of 'beheaded babies' in Israel.

Some internet users even pointed out the usage of quotation marks by global media networks to define the alleged incident. 

"Why is "beheaded babies" in quotes?" one user asked writer and essayist Jonathan L Krohn.

"Because there is, as yet, no evidence of this and the IDF has said they will not investigate and refuse to share any such evidence," he replied.

"On the grim claims of whether babies were beheaded in the Hamas attack, CNN has important new reporting: An official says the Israeli government has not confirmed that specific claim," wrote editor, Matthew Wells. 

"Does it really matter if they were beheaded or not, assuming babies were in fact killed by Hamas in the raid?" one user said in response to Wells. 

"Yes it matters. It makes a difference between accidental and on purpose with a lot of cruelty," another user explained.