How rumors about Israeli rape dogs spread

In recent days, rumors have been circulating online that Israel is allegedly using trained dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners. The allegations became widely known when progressive commentator Briahna Joy Gray shared them on X.

“I may have missed it, but has the Times or any other major U.S. newspaper reported on these reports that Israel is training dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners?” she wrote.

The rumor dates back to a June 19 Instagram post by Al Jazeera Mubasher, which was quickly shared with English subtitles by pro-Palestinian influencers. It included an audio recording of the head of Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry describing the accounts of several prisoners who were raped by trained dogs while in Israeli custody.