In an effort to sort through the vast amount of misinformation on the Israel-Palestine conflict, I’ve invested hundreds of hours of research into fact-checking over 120 common claims and summarized my findings below. This represents all of the things I wish someone would have told me at the outset. Constructive criticism is welcome, as long as it is evidence-based (see form at bottom).
Select any claim to view the detailed fact-check.
Before 1948
There was never a nation called “Palestine” / “Palestine” does not exist.
Palestinians never had a king, a language, a currency, a culture, or even a history.
There was no such thing as “Palestinian Arabs” in 1948, because the term wasn’t invented until the 1960s.
The Jewish people are the sole indigenous people of Palestine, since they’re the oldest group to have maintained self-identity and a presence in Palestine.
Before Israel’s foundation in 1948, Palestine was dirty, impoverished, and corrupt.
Jews bought all of the land that became the state of Israel.
Jews lived in ancient Israel 3,000 years ago and have continuously maintained a presence in that area. They are therefore the rightful owners of the land.
Hardly any Arabs in current day Israel owned land in 1948, when Israel became a nation.
In 1923, Britain split Palestine into an Arab half (Transjordan), and a Jewish half (for Israel).
Palestinians don’t want a state, they just want to destroy Israel.
Had the Palestinian Arabs accepted the 1947 UN partition plan (UN Resolution 181), not a single one would have become a refugee.
The 1947 partition plan (UN resolution 181) was never implemented because the Arabs rejected the resolution.
After rejecting UN resolution 181, the Arabs started a war against the Jews which they then lost.
Gazans have a tribal warfare mentality and are prone to fighting, even without Israel in the picture.
Prior to 1948 there were many Muslim countries but no Jewish ones. Jews deserve to have a country of their own.
1948
For all the claims of a “Nakhba” not a single photo exists of a single armed Jew forcing Arabs to leave.
The book Exodus accurately depicts what happened before and after the Palestine mandate.
The claimed massacre in the village of Tantura was debunked, and the graduate student that proposed it retracted his thesis.
The neighboring Arab states attacked Israel because they wanted to destroy it.
There was no ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs in Israel in 1948 since 20% of Israeli citizens today are Muslim Arabs.
After 1948
Palestinians are the only group whose descendants inherit refugee status.
The United Nations is biased toward Palestinians since it grants their descendants refugee status while denying it to descendants of Jews that fled Nazi Europe.
There are no international bodies that designate the West Bank as Palestinian Land.
Since 1967, Israel has been offering all of the West Bank to the Arabs in exchange for peace and the Arabs have been rejecting the offer.
1967 — The Six-Day War
Egypt attacked Israel first in June 1967, which triggered the Six-Day War.
During the six day war, Israel won the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank from Jordan.
After 1967
1993-2000 — The Oslo Period
The Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords but did not uphold their end of the bargain.
Gaza, being along the Mediterranean, could have built a seaport with all the money they’ve received from the UN, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
In the 2000 Camp David accord, under intense U.S. pressure, Israel offered the creation of a Palestinian state over 90 percent of the West Bank and all of Gaza, with its capital to be in East Jerusalem.
2000-2005 — The Second Intifada
Joseph’s tomb was ransacked by Palestinians after it was handed over to the Palestinian police.
Arafat cleared Ariel Sharon’s September 2000 visit to the Temple Mount. It was not a provocation.
Yasser Arafat started the Second Intifada.
Anyone who supports intifadas supports violence against Israel or Jews.
The 2005 Disengagement
Israel completely disengaged from Gaza in 2005—they moved out and gave Gazans their own free state so that they could flourish.
Upon disengaging from Gaza in 2005, Israel left behind hospitals, schools, and residences that the Gazans then destroyed.
Upon disengaging from Gaza in 2005, Israel left behind solar panels for Gaza to produce its own electricity, which the Gazans then destroyed.
Settlers left behind hundreds of greenhouses in Gaza in 2005, which Hamas then destroyed because they had been built by Jews.
After the 2005 disengagement, Hamas started firing rockets at Israel, thus proving it’s a bad idea to give Palestinians back any land or autonomy.
Gaza ceased to be occupied after Israel pulled out its settlers and soldiers in 2005.
In 2005, Israel generously gave back land to Palestinians by pulling out of Gaza.
2006-2022
All Gazans support Hamas, thus are complicit in every Hamas military operation since they were elected in 2006.
In June 2007, over a five day period, Hamas violently overthrew the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas is undemocratic since they have not held an election since 2006.
Gazans have a high rate of obesity (before October 7th 2023).
Israel periodically cut food and other humanitarian aid since Hamas was elected in 2006.
Israel cannot partner with an entity like Hamas that wants its destruction.
Gaza is an open-air prison.
Israel was the greatest provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza (before October 7th 2023).
Palestinians accused of crimes in the West Bank receive a fair trial.
The Palestinian Authority Martyr’s Fund pays Palestinians in direct proportion to their kill count and prison sentences.
October 7th 2023
Hamas committed a massacre in Israel on Oct 7th 2023.
Hamas broke the ceasefire in effect on Oct 7 2023.
Gazans only use violent means of resistance.
Hamas militants killed 1200 Israelis on Oct 7 2023.
The IDF killed some of their own citizens and soldiers on October 7th 2023.
Hamas burned or beheaded 40 babies on October 7th, 2023.
Hamas militants baked a baby in an oven, and ripped the fetus out of a pregnant woman.
Hamas kidnapped a baby and took it away from its family.
Hamas militants are baby murderers.
Some Hamas militants or other Palestinians who breached the fence on October 7th raped or sexually assaulted Israelis.
Hamas militants committed a widespread, systematic rape of Israelis on October 7th.
Hamas hides amongst the civilians by wearing civilian clothes instead of military uniforms.
The October 7th 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel was unprovoked.
Hamas started the war on October 7th, so every civilian death is on them.
Before October 7th, Gaza was a nicer place to live than many areas of the world.
UNRWA is a terrorist organization and should be defunded or entirely dismantled.
Around 10% of all UNRWA staff in Gaza, or about 1,200 people, have links to militant groups such as Hamas’s.
After October 7th 2023
Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas’s October 7th attacks.
Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7 2023 simply because they are terrorists that want to destroy Israel and kill all Jews.
Israel is attacking Gaza solely to destroy Hamas and retrieve its hostages.
Hamas could have protected the civilians of Gaza by sheltering them in their underground tunnels.
Hamas should have invested in bomb shelters instead of tunnels or rockets.
Israel must prevent the entry of concrete and pipes into Gaza because Hamas uses those to build tunnels and weapons.
Israel must prevent the entry of fuel into Gaza since Hamas uses it to propel rockets.
Gazans don’t have clean drinking water because Hamas uses its funds for tunnel-building instead of water treatment.
The children of Gaza are all future militants and should not be spared.
There are no innocent Palestinians since they elected Hamas as their governing body.
Hamas wants Gazans to suffer, because this generates worldwide sympathy.
Aid trucks are being hijacked by Hamas militants to be used by their own fighters. That’s why Palestinians are starving.
The IDF publishes the names and photos of all militants they’ve killed.
Genocide means killing all people in a given national, religious, racial, or ethnic group.
Israeli leaders have not called for a genocide of the people of Gaza.
Since October 7th 2023, Israel has committed a genocide against the Palestinians.
Gaza’s population has increased since October 7th 2023 (evidence that Israel has not committed a genocide).
Israel is letting humanitarian aid unfettered into Gaza.
Unlike the war in Gaza, the civil wars in Syria, Yemen, and Sudan haven’t received any attention or international court rulings.
All of the destruction and death in Gaza is standard warfare—war is hell.
Destroying civilian infrastructure is an acceptable part of warfare.
In May 2024, the UN quietly lowered the death toll in Gaza by 11,000.
Israel is not responsible for ensuring Gazans have food, medicine, and electricity after Hamas attacked them.
Putting Gaza under siege—cutting off their food, water, and electricity—is acceptable under international law.
Over 75% of Gazans still support Hamas after the October 7th attacks.
Hamas has stored weapons in some UNRWA schools and dug tunnels under some UNRWA buildings.
All of the schools and hospitals the IDF targeted in Gaza were used by militants.
Israel is letting in enough food to feed all the Gazans (Oct 2023 – Dec 2024).
Israel tortured UNRWA employees.
The Gaza Ministry of Health is dishonest, and their casualty numbers cannot be trusted.
Israel’s use of precision munitions saves civilian lives.
Israel’s attacks in Gaza were surgically precise, only hitting targets of military value.
Those protesting the Hamas-Israel war around the world shouldn’t, since it has nothing to do with them.
Those protesting around the world should go to Gaza and protest there.
Hamas dug up water pipes to produce rockets—contributing to water shortages—instead of producing and securing food and medicine for its residents.
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad misfired hundreds of rockets in the first few weeks since October 7th, which landed in Gaza.
On October 17th 2023, the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was hit by a misfired rocket from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, not the IDF.
Misfired rockets launched by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have caused most of the deaths and destruction in Gaza.
Hamas vastly inflated Gaza war death statistics, according to a December 2024 study by Major Andrew Fox.
It is Hamas that’s been rejecting all ceasefire deals since October 7th 2023.
About Hamas
Hamas’s 1988 charter calls for the eradication of Israel.
Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Hamas wants to kill everyone not of the Muslim faith who won’t convert to Islam.
Hamas has never agreed to a peaceful two state solution.
Hamas says that the people of Gaza are the UN’s responsibility, not theirs.
Hamas’s charter says their ultimate goal is to murder all the Jews in the world.
Hamas operates schools to recruit terrorists and teach kids to hate Israel.
Hamas’s leaders are billionaires—they take all donated funds for themselves, leaving civilians to languish.
If Hamas finally agreed to share the land of Palestine with Israel, it would end the conflict.
Hamas puts civilians in danger by placing their tunnels underneath civilian infrastructure, and using some hospitals, schools, etc, as weapons depots, hideouts, or rocket launch sites.
Hamas uses its civilians as human shields, by placing them directly in the line of danger during warfare.
