A Gaza-based doctor who is frequently quoted by major media outlets on the impacts of Hamas’s war with Israel has close familial ties to the terrorist group. Numerous family members of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Fadel Naim are or were Hamas members, including a son and nephew who were killed by the Israeli military and a brother who is Hamas leader Basem Naim, according to an analysis of open-source data conducted by FDD’s Long War Journal.
In 2009, an Israeli airstrike killed Hamas fighter Anas Fadel Naim, Dr. Fadel Naim’s son and Basem Naim’s nephew. Previously, Fadel’s nephew, Naim Basem Naim, also a Hamas fighter and the son of Basem Naim, died when he was wounded battling Israeli forces in the Shujaiyya neighborhood on January 5, 2003.
Basem Naim, Fadel’s brother, is a US-sanctioned Hamas official who has held several prominent roles in the organization, including minister of health. He is currently the deputy head of Hamas’s Arab and Islamic Relations Office. Notably, Basem has become a key figure in promoting the group’s message to the international media following Hamas’s war with Israel that began on October 7, 2023.
Prominent media outlets, including The New York Times, The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, NPR, CBS News, CNN, and others, have quoted Dr. Fadel Naim about casualty statistics during the war and the aftermath of specific events without disclosing his family ties to the terrorist group. It is unknown whether these outlets were aware of the Gaza-based doctor’s relationships before using him as a source.
Fadel Naim’s recitation of Hamas casualty statistics and accusations of civilian targeting
Fadel has cast a negative view of Israel and its actions that benefit Hamas’s message locally and abroad. In a recent message posted on X, Fadel highlighted casualty figures while claiming Israel had committed genocide and explicitly targeted noncombatants.
“The Israeli occupation of Gaza has resulted in a genocidal war lasting 470 days, resulting in 10,100 massacres, 61,182 dead, and 14,222 missing persons,” Fadel wrote. He added that Israel had targeted “healthcare workers, journalists, police, and aid security personnel.”
The statistics cited by Fadel were published by the Gaza Media Office, a Hamas government body. However, several sources have identified erroneous casualty figures produced by Hamas’s various agencies during the war.
A report published by the London-based Henry Jackson Society on December 13 found “distortion of statistics, misreporting of natural deaths, deaths from before the war started and a high likelihood of combatant deaths” in the figures published by Hamas.
On June 7, 2024, the AP conducted an analysis on the death toll data published by Hamas. Among its findings, the report concluded, “Women and children made up fewer than 40% of those killed in the Gaza Strip during April, down from more than 60% in October.” The AP analysis notes that these statistics contradict statements made by the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Compounding the challenges of identifying accurate Gaza casualty figures is that Hamas has not officially published details about the number of its fighters killed in the war, apart from acknowledging the deaths of the group’s senior leaders. Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, Israel’s former military chief of staff, claimed that Israeli forces killed almost 20,000 Hamas fighters in the conflict.
In addition, Israel’s attempts to mitigate civilian casualties during military actions in Gaza, including establishing humanitarian zones and warning civilians to evacuate areas before operations, dispute Fadel’s assertion Israel undertook “a genocidal war” in the territory.
Fadel’s familial connections to Hamas make him an unlikely candidate to produce an impartial account of the Gaza war and Israel’s operations. Nevertheless, none of the media outlets that have used him as a source have mentioned these relationships.
Naim recounts the death of his son and nephew, both Hamas fighters
In a 2021 Facebook post, Fadel Naim tells the story of experiencing the deaths of his nephew (Naim Basem Naaim) and his son (Anas Naim). Fadel recounts receiving the news about Naim’s death and his nephew’s transfer to Al Shifa Hospital in 2003.
Six years later, Basem Naim (referred to by his kunya (nickname) Abu Naim), the minister of health for the Hamas government at the time, was at the same hospital to receive the news about the death of Fadel’s son, Anas. Fadel states in the post “that Anas had ascended to meet his cousin [Naim] in heaven.” The post includes photos of Anas and Naim.
LWJ analyzed additional open-source data to confirm the father-son relationship between Basem Naim and Naim Basem Naim, including an Instagram post from an account in Basem’s name that eulogized Naim on May 1, 2023.
The Naim family and additional Hamas ties
LWJ constructed a partial list of the Naim family tree:
- Umm Awny is Basem and Fadel’s mother and appears in several social media posts by the Naim family.
- Awny Naim is the son of Umm Awny and the brother of Fadel.
- Wafa and Rahmat Naim are Basem and Fadel’s sisters; the accounts have Umm Awny in their profile pictures and comment that she was their mother.
- Jamal Naimis a brother of Fadel and Basem, whose Facebook account has a photo of Anas, his nephew, and other pictures of the Naim family.
- Huda, Haneen, and Heba Naaim are Fadel Naim’s daughters and sisters of Anas Naim, the deceased Hamas fighter, and they follow Basem Naim on social media.
- Hajar Naim is Hamas leader Basem Naim’s daughter, and the sister of deceased Hamas fighter Naim Basem Naim.
Additional open-source data strengthens the link between Basem and Fadel. A picture on Fadel’s social media account shows him kissing the forehead of an older woman. The comments on the image indicate that this woman is Umm Awny, his deceased mother, and include a comment under the name Awny Naim. Another account that commented on the post is Rahmat Naim Naim, who appears to be Awny’s sister.
The social media account of Awny Naim, Fadel’s brother, has a cover photo showing four men, only three of whom are tagged in the image: Awny Naaim, Fadel Naim, and Jamal Naim. However, based on comparisons with other pictures, LWJ identified Basem Naim as the only individual not tagged in the photo:
Further supporting the assertion that Fadel Naim is affiliated with Hamas and its leadership, a Facebook page bearing his name features photographs of him celebrating his daughter’s wedding with deceased Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Ahmed Bahar, and Imad al Alami.
LWJ attempted to contact Fadel Naim several times by phone and text message for a comment, but he did not respond.
