Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters Sunday that Israel may sue the New York Times for defamation over a front-page photo that falsely purported to show a starving Palestinian child in Gaza.

Netanyahu reviewed three such photos, noting that in each case the child in question suffered from some other illness, often a genetic one, and that the adults and other children pictured nearby were well-fed.

He said that the false claim that Israelis were hurting children had roots in medieval libels against Jews, which historically had been a prelude to attacks against Jewish communities.

Netanyahu said:

The third one is the most celebrated one. This is a New York Times cover photo, it’s on the front page, of Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub and his mother. Muhammad Zakariya Ayy

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