Quds News Network

Quds News Network is a Palestinian news agency affiliated with Hamas. Founded in 2011, it has both Arabic and English editions. In 2019, the Palestinian Authority blocked the network's website. In January 2021, its TikTok account was suspended. A week after the Hamas attack and pogrom on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, Quds News Network's Facebook page, which had over 10 million followers, was also suspended.

The network maintains a presence on Instagram, with 2.2 million followers, and on X (formerly Twitter), with over 500,000 followers. It has been accused of spreading disinformation, notably regarding the explosion near al-Ahli hospital in Gaza on October 17, 2023. Citing a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, the outlet attributed the explosion to “Israeli bombardment” and reported the death toll as “over 500” [archive]. 

In November 2023, Quds News Network shared a propaganda video on X showing two Israeli hostages waving and smiling at a gunman from the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. Other propaganda content included misleading images of a destroyed building falsely presented as a mosque in Gaza.

On January 23, 2024, Quds News Network's X account falsely claimed that the Israeli army had dropped cans rigged with explosives to kill Gazans, alleging that two children “were killed by the fake cans” [archive]. On April 22, 2024, Quds News Network reported that “Gaza civil defence officials” found “210 bodies in two mass graves in the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip”, and that “the bodies were found mutilated, some decapitated, with skin and organs stolen”. The Israeli army has denied burying Palestinian bodies, and allegations of mutilation and organ theft have not been independently verified. If not verified, these claims could be part of an older antisemitic propaganda narrative accusing Israel of stealing Palestinians' organs.

(Last updated on 07/25/2024)