Wikipedia editors quietly deleted an entry claiming that Hamas has won nearly every battle against Israel since Oct. 7, setting off a fiery debate about the online database’s bias and inability to accurately portray the war.
In its article listing "military engagements during the Israel–Hamas war," Wikipedia declared Hamas and its terror allies the victors in just about every key battle with Israel over the past year, according to multiple archived versions of the entry.
The page remained active through the end of last year, even as Wikipedia’s editors were unable to provide trustworthy sourcing for these claims. After the entry went viral on social media, Wikipedia removed the section entirely and added a disclaimer stating, "This article has multiple issues."
It is just the latest example of Wikipedia peddling false information about Israel and its military campaign against Hamas and Hezbollah. The site has come under fire for spreading falsehoods about the Jewish state, including a "wildly inaccurate" September 2024 article on Zionism that portrayed Jews as "colonizers."
The latest conflict centers on Wikipedia’s determination—published without evidence—that the Palestinians won at least a dozen battles in Gaza since Oct. 7. Before its alteration, the article declared either a "Palestinian victory," "Hamas victory," or "Israeli withdrawal" in each of these cases.
The current version of the entry no longer includes this category. Instead, it lists the various terror groups that participated in specific battles against Israeli forces.
In open forums on the site, Wikipedia users accused the article’s editors of pushing anti-Israel propaganda, with one commenter calling the entry "a joke."
"Does anyone seriously believe that Hamas has won every battle since the invasion?" one user asked.
After the entry drew social media attention earlier this week, a Wikipedia editor using the handle "Toomuchcuriosity" decided to remove the section entirely.
"Right now, I believe the best solution is to remove the 'results' section from the tables or replace it with actual information from the sources instead of the ‘victory'/'loss’ binary," the editor wrote.
The move did not sit well with other Wikipedia editors actively shaping the entry.
One of these editors, known as "The Great Mule of Eupatoria," claimed in the discussion section that Israel’s military victories are hollow, writing that there is a "difference between defeating an enemy on the battlefield and massacring/taking revenge on civilians to pretend to have some military victory." The editor in question lists their online interests as "birds, Arab nationalism, Middle Eastern military history, twinks."
Joe Truzman, an expert on Palestinian militant groups with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, said the latest online controversy highlights the often inaccurate nature of Wikipedia’s entries about Israel.
"Readers should not use Wikipedia as a primary source of information about the war in Gaza," he said. "The authors often blend factual information with inaccuracies, obscuring the conflict's complexities for readers seeking a neutral understanding. Those who lack a deep background in the war or the historical context of the Gaza-Israel conflicts will struggle to distinguish between fact and fiction on the platform."
The result, Truzman said, is that Wikipedia "contributes to the widespread dissemination of disinformation and misinformation propagated by terrorist groups and their supporters."
Wikipedia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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