Palestinian medical officials and Hamas have a notorious credibility problem. Children allegedly killed by the IDF didn’t really die. Casualty counts get inflated. Any Hamas official subsequently conceding to Israel doesn’t get the same play as the original charges.
The Helou family was also in on the lie. In knowingly providing AP with misinformation, the Helous followed in the footsteps of Jamal Dura. Just a month ago, he was discredited in a French court for passing off scars he got from a 1994 operation as injuries from the IDF. Took some luster off the iconic status of his famous son, Mohammed.
But in a culture where “my son, the martyr” is a hope, not a lament, is that really such a surprise?
Had Hamas spotted the original Al-Quds article on time, it would’ve seized on it then. That would’ve been Egypt’s headache.
While Israel’s a side issue to this particular story, the Hamas credibility gap remains.
