Following the controversy surrounding the selection of the first Palestinian representative at the Miss Universe contest, "Miss Palestine" Nadine Ayoub is now sparking a new and particularly infuriating storm.
Ayoub published a series of posts about the Gaza war on social media, which have since been deleted, and was caught lying repeatedly. In one post, Ayoub claimed that the number of casualties in Gaza stands at 680,000 – ten times the unverified figures cited by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas.
In another post, she claimed that significant Israeli sites – including Masada and the Western Wall – are located in Palestinian territories. The controversy reached its height when Ayoub shared videos of Israeli children, including Noya Dan, Kfir Bibas, and Ariel Bibas, who were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, and were presented as Palestinians.
In Ayoub's post, which has since been deleted, she wrote that these children are innocent and their only "crime was that they were in Palestine", without any mention that these were actually Israeli children murdered by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
View this post on Instagram
Ayoub's false messages prompted Miss Israel, Melanie Shiraz, to respond forcefully to her posts in a separate video on social media. "She presented them in a way that implied they were Palestinian victims. Let me be absolutely clear – these children were Israeli. They were born in Israel, they lived in Israel, and they were murdered because they were Israeli. The land they came from is not called Palestine. Presenting them otherwise is a deliberate distortion designed to erase their true identity."
"To take these innocent Israeli children – murdered in their homes or in captivity – and to present them as though they were Palestinian casualties is not an act of compassion," she emphasized, adding that Ayoub spreads lies so easily refuted that they undermine her credibility.
Ayoub will represent the Palestinian territories at the Miss Universe 2025 contest to be held on November 21 in Pak Kret, Thailand – an event that will mark the first Palestinian participation since the contest's founding, where she will also meet Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz – an encounter that could be particularly explosive and it seems the real drama is still ahead.
