The Israeli army has denied having any confirmation of allegations that Hamas fighters beheaded babies in Kfar Aza kibbutz region during the Israel-Hamas conflict that began on Saturday — a claim that was widely circulated on social media and even carried by some mainstream news websites.

The allegation, which has been used to condemn Hamas’ armed offensive against Israel, first came to light on Tuesday when the official government @Israel account on X published a video from i24NEWS reporter Nicole Zedek about the devastation at the Kfar Aza kibbutz.

The video came with the caption: “40 babies murdered”.

In another video, the reporter said: “No one could expect that it would be like this, the horrors I’m hearing from these soldiers.”

Several websites, including CBS and the Times of India, also featured stories alleging the beheadings of more than three dozen babies.

CBS quoted the Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Maj. Libby Weiss as saying that more than one of the Israeli soldiers reported finding “beheaded children of varying ages, ranging from babies to slightly older children,” along with adults who had also been dismembered in Kfar Aza.

However, Anadolu Agency has since quoted an Israeli army spokesperson as clarifying that it had no confirmation of the claim.

The report did not reveal the identity of the spokesperson and did not mention whether it was a different spokesperson of the Israeli army going against Maj Weiss’ earlier remarks or was it Maj Weiss herself retracting her claim.

“We have seen the news, but we do not have any details or confirmation about that,” the unnamed spokesperson told the agency.

Journalist Oren Ziv, affiliated with the independent news outlet 972 mag, also addressed the topic, saying: “During the tour [of the site of the attack] we didn’t see any evidence of this (beheading of babies), and the army spokesperson or commanders also didn’t mention any such incidents.”