Former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has drawn sharp criticism after sharing unverified allegations that the IDF was involved in the removal of organs from Palestinian bodies, a claim that Jewish organizations and officials have labelled a modern blood libel.
In several videos circulating on social media this week, Corbyn read out what he said was a message from the director of Al‑Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, alleging that boxes delivered by the IDF to the hospital contained skulls and remains with organs missing, raising “credible indications of organ theft” from Palestinian bodies.
“He said there had been a delivery of boxes to the hospital by the IDF, a large number of boxes, 60 or 70 boxes," the former Labour leader said. "After the IDF had gone off, they opened the boxes, and each one contained the skull of a Palestinian who’d been killed.”
“They were also delivered the bodies of dead women in Gaza that had been opened and some of the organs removed,” he added.
The remarks, which spread on social media via Instagram and Facebook, quickly triggered a fierce backlash. Critics, including Jewish communal groups and analysts, condemned the allegations as unfounded and incendiary.
"Jeremy Corbyn, former British Labour Party leader who was booted out of his own party because of his antisemitism, posted a video accusing Israel of harvesting organs from dead Gazan women and sending the bodies minus the organs back to Al-Shifa Hospital," wrote Jewish Breaking News in an Instagram post that shared Corbyn's remarks.
Jewish groups, Israeli officials accuse Corbyn of blood libel
Jewish groups reiterated that blood libel tropes have no place in contemporary discourse and warned that spreading unverified, inflammatory claims about Israelis and Jews undermines serious debate over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
"The blood libel began as the false accusation that Jews killed Christians to use their blood for ritual purposes," the American Jewish Committee (AJC) said in a statement addressing Corbyn's remarks.
"Today, it has been repackaged in a modern form as organ-harvesting conspiracies. This hateful myth has fueled centuries of persecution, violence, and expulsion, and it continues to incite hatred and endanger Jewish communities. We urge all leaders to reject this baseless and malicious claim," read the AJC statement.
Israeli officials have categorically rejected the claims, saying the handling and return of Palestinian bodies has taken place only through internationally supervised arrangements coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
An IDF spokesperson also described Corbyn’s assertions as “a wild blood libel”, noting that Israeli forces have not been near Al‑Shifa Hospital in months and accused him of promoting “crazy, baseless stories”.
The Israeli Embassy in London also rejected Corbyn’s allegations, describing them as recycled smears and blood libels, saying serious public discourse was being replaced with insinuation.
"This isn’t leadership. It’s a bid for engagement metrics masquerading as principle," said an embassy spokesperson in a statement. “History remembers statesmen. The algorithm remembers outrage. He’s clearly chosen his audience."