LONDON: Four prominent columnists have resigned from the Jewish Chronicle following allegations that the London-based newspaper published fabricated articles concerning Israel and its conflict with Gaza.

Jonathan Freedland and Hadley Freeman announced their resignations on social media early Sunday. They were joined by fellow columnists David Baddiel and David Aaronovitch.

Freedland criticized the JC for showing only minimal contrition, while Freeman stated that recent events made her continued association with the paper untenable.

A statement from a spokesperson for Baddiel said on Sunday the comedian also had 鈥渘o plans to write any more columns鈥� for the JC.

The controversy erupted on Friday after the Israel Defense Forces revealed details from an investigation into the JC鈥檚 articles, finding some to be untrue.

The JC has since removed the disputed articles and severed ties with Elon Perry, a freelance journalist and former IDF member responsible for several high-profile stories.

One of Perry鈥檚 articles, published on Sept. 5, claimed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning to escape to Iran through the Philadelphi Corridor.

The story, purportedly based on leaked intelligence documents, was widely reported and shared by media in Israel, including by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 son.

However, the IDF later stated it had no knowledge of such documents.

The JC conducted an internal review and concluded that while Perry鈥檚 military background was verified, it could not substantiate some of his claims.

Consequently, the JC issued a statement on Friday saying it had removed Perry鈥檚 articles from its website and ended its association with him.

鈥淲hile we understand he did serve in the Israel Defense Forces, we were not satisfied with some of his claims,鈥� it said. 鈥淲e have therefore removed his stories from our website and ended any association with Mr. Perry.鈥�

Freedland, a senior columnist for The Guardian, said on Sunday that he was quitting the JC, which he has contributed to for 26 years, saying the latest scandal 鈥渂rings great disgrace on the paper.鈥�

On X, he said: 鈥淭oo often, the JC reads like a partisan, ideological instrument, its judgements political rather than journalistic.鈥�

Freeman, who is also a contributor to The Sunday Times, told BBC Radio 4 on Monday that she and the other resigning columnists 鈥渇elt there had not been editorial standards鈥� applied to Perry 鈥渂ecause this journalist adhered to an ideology that perhaps was similar to that of the editorial board.鈥�

In response, Perry claimed that the JC鈥檚 statement was a 鈥渉uge mistake鈥� and suggested that the criticisms were driven by 鈥渏ealousy.鈥�