LOS ANGELES — Gigi Hadid has apologised for "not fact-checking" a post she shared on Instagram in which she accused Israel of being "the only country in the world that keeps children as prisoners of war."
The 28-year-old model, whose father is from Palestine, said she was trying to make the point that Palestinian children are often not given the same rights as Israeli kids accused of the same crime, reports Mirror.co.uk.
However, she apologised for using the example of Ahmad Manasra, who was arrested in 2015 for stabbing two Israeli citizens in Pisgat Zeev, an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.
Manasra, who is now 21, was arrested at the age of 13 and was interrogated by Israeli authorities. According to Amnesty, he has been in prison since and has developed serious mental health problems. After mentioning his case on social media and facing backlash, Gigi apologised saying she did not "deeply think" about it before reposting.
As per Mirror.co.uk, the model wrote on Instagram: "As someone of Palestinian descent, the endless heartbreaking news and imagery coming out of Gaza has been painful and often overwhelming. It is important for me to share real stories about the hardships that Palestinians have endured and continue to endure, but this weekend I shared something that I did not fact-check or deeply think about prior to reposting.
She further mentioned: “I wanted to show the ways in which international law is being undermined by the Israeli government. In this case, I was trying to highlight how Palestinian children who are arrested by the IDF are often not given the same rights as an Israeli child accused of the same crime would. Unfortunately, I used the wrong example to make that point and I regret that.”
"My focus was intended to be on human rights issues. This is why I also want to reiterate that attacking any human, which of course includes Jewish people, is NEVER OK. Taking innocent people hostage is NEVER OK. Harming someone BECAUSE they are Jewish is NEVER OK. It is wrong. To want freedom and humane treatment for Palestinians and to also want safety for Jewish people can both be important to the same person - including myself (sic)," she wrote to her 79.1 million followers.
Also read: Gigi Hadid blasts Israel for keeping ‘children as prisoners of war’