Former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing accusations of spreading a “wild blood libel" after sharing claims made by the director of Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital about the alleged harvesting of organs by the IDF from dead Palestinian Arab women’s bodies, the Jewish News reported.
The backlash began after Corbyn shared a video on the Instagram account of the We Are The Peace organization in which he recounted a message he claimed to have received from the hospital’s director “last Thursday or Friday."
According to Corbyn, the director reported the delivery of 60-70 boxes by the IDF, which allegedly contained the skulls of Palestinian Arabs and the bodies of women with removed organs.
In the video, Corbyn said, “It’s hard to describe this," before adding, “That is what is happening to the people of Palestine."
The IDF quickly responded, dismissing the claims as false. Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, an IDF international spokesperson, criticized Corbyn for spreading what he called “a wild blood libel" and demanded fact-checking before disseminating such claims.
“IDF soldiers haven’t been anywhere near the Shifa hospital in months! Jeremy Corbyn’s claims are completely false," Shoshani stated.
Shoshani stressed that the IDF adheres to international law and internal directives that prohibit such conduct, and explained that the return of bodies to Gaza is coordinated through international efforts, with the assistance of the Red Cross.
The Al-Shifa hospital, which has been at the center of multiple contested claims since Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attacks, had served as a Hamas command and control center. The hospital’s director, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, was imprisoned in Israel for seven months over these allegations but denied any involvement with Hamas.
Corbyn, who served as Labour leader from 2015 to 2020, resigned following Labour’s worst electoral defeat since 1935 and has since founded a new party alongside former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.
Corbyn is notorious for his anti-Israel stance. During his time as Labour leader, Corbyn infamously stirred up controversy by calling Hamas and Hezbollah his "friends". He initially refused to apologize for those comments but later walked them back.
British Jews also voiced deep concern over his disturbing links to a wide range of extremists, spanning far-right Holocaust deniers, an antisemitic Christian minister and Islamist terrorist groups.
Corbyn was suspended from Labour following the publication of a report compiled by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which found numerous cases where the party leadership under Corbyn underplayed, belittled or ignored complaints by Jewish members, and sometimes actively interfered to support political allies.
In November of 2022, Corbyn was permanently banned from running as a candidate for the Labour party. He ran as an independent in the most recent election.