The Israeli Foreign Ministry lashed out at the New York Times on Monday after one of its columnists, Nicholas Kristof, documented allegations of rape and sexual abuse by Israelis against Palestinians.

Shortly after the New York Times published Kristof’s article, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians” – which chronicled the “brutal sexual abuse” experienced by Palestinians “at the hands of Israel’s prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators” – Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the newspaper.

“Today, the @nytimes chose to publish one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press,” they wrote. “In an unfathomable inversion of reality, and through an endless stream of baseless lies, propagandist Nicholas Kristof turns the victim into the accused.”

The Foreign Ministry continued, “Israel – whose citizens were the victims of the most horrific sexual crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, and whose hostages were later subjected to further sexual abuse – is portrayed as the guilty party. This publication is no coincidence. It is part of a false and well-orchestrated anti-Israel campaign aimed at placing Israel on the UN Secretary-General’s blacklist.”

“Israel will fight these lies with the truth – and the truth will prevail,” the statement concluded.

In a social media post, Kristof responded, “Critical take from Israel’s Foreign Ministry on my column about sexual assaults of Palestinian men, women and children. You can read my piece here through a gift link.”

Accusations of rape and sexual assault against members of the IDF and Israeli prison guards have been made repeatedly since the outbreak of Israel’s conflict in Gaza.

Last year, the United Nations published an independent investigation into “Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence” against Palestinians since October 2023, alleging that “forced public stripping,” “threats of rape,” and “sexual assault” were now “standard operating procedures toward Palestinians” in Israel’s security forces.

“Other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and violence to the genitals, were committed either under explicit orders or with implicit encouragement by Israel’s top civilian and military leadership,” the UN’s report added.

Accusations of sexual abuse have been so widespread that Wikipedia hosts an entire entry, “Sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians during the Gaza war.”

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