A heated editing battle has emerged on Wikipedia regarding a page about a deadly Israeli mission at the Nuseirat refugee camp near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza on June 8.

The assault, purportedly to rescue four Israeli hostages, resulted in the deaths of nearly 300 displaced individuals and injuries to more than 700, overwhelming the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The controversial Israeli raid has now become the center of an intense editing conflict on Wikipedia, necessitating restricted editing access to the page.

Here are the details about the creation of the Wikipedia page and the resulting online conflict:

Who initiated the Wikipedia page on Nuseirat and what was the motive?

The raid on Nuseirat made global news for rescuing the four Israeli captives – Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40 –who were taken by Hamas during the October 7 attacks on southern Israel. To document this, a Wikipedia editor known as “Galamore” created a page dedicated to the incident.

Wikipedia ensures editors can remain anonymous, with their identities and locations concealed. However, their identities could potentially be uncovered through other means.

Molly White, an American software engineer and technology researcher with 18 years of Wikipedia editing mainly focused on political pages, said, “Some argue that keeping editors anonymous helps because assumptions aren’t made based on their identities. However, knowing an editor's background could help evaluate possible biases and their expertise,” she added.

After the Nuseirat article's creation, it saw 627 edits by 103 users in just one week, an unusually high number of modifications for a single article. By comparison, the article on the October 7 Hamas attacks had 1,705 edits by 368 people over eight months.

Following standard procedure when an “edit war” occurs, Wikipedia administrators promptly restricted the page, granting editing rights only to selected users. For others attempting to edit, a message appears stating, “only extended confirmed users and administrators can edit it.”

A registered editor qualifies as an “extended confirmed user” after 30 days and making at least 500 edits.

The creator of the article, Galamore, has been a Wikipedia editor since December 25, 2023, making 1,186 edits mainly on profiles of Israeli figures, including footballer Yehezkel Chazom, board game creator Ephraim Hertzano, and chess master Moshe Aba Blass. Wikipedia states that making over 1,000 edits places an editor in the top 0.1 percent of contributors in terms of edit volume.

What constitutes an ‘edit war’?

An edit war involves continuous back-and-forth changes between two or more editors, leading to a cycle of reversion. It's also known as “vandalism” on Wikipedia, encompassing any deliberate disruptive or malicious modifications to a page, such as content deletion or alterations to induce bias, defamation, or offensiveness.

Edit wars are frequent on Wikipedia. White noted, “This happens regularly, especially with recent events and breaking news topics.”

For instance, White mentioned an edit war over a page she worked on regarding the January 6 Capitol riots in Washington, DC in 2020. “There was an extended debate over what to call the article – ‘insurrection’, ‘riots’, or ‘attack’ on the Capitol,” she remarked.

Wikipedia policies mandate pages to be neutral, without editorial bias. It uses tools to detect and address potential edit wars, and users can tag a page indicating neutrality disputes, prompting broader discussions and potentially locking the page for protection.

How did the disagreement over the Nuseirat Wikipedia article develop?

Here are key alterations made to the article in the initial 50 hours (times in GMT):

• June 8, 11:17: The “Nuseirat operation” Wikipedia page is initiated by Galamore, listing the rescued captives and Gaza’s Ministry of Health report on “dozens of deaths”.
• June 8, 12:00: Galamore renames the page “2024 Nuseirat rescue operation” and mentions the incident being called the “Nuseirat Massacre” by Hamas due to casualties.
• June 8, 14:22: An anonymous user with an IP address changes the wording to “dubbed the ‘Nuseirat Massacre’” and comments “biased language”.
• June 8, 15:40: User “JDiala” updates the death toll to at least 210 Palestinians, citing “Palestinian health officials.” Registered since July 29, 2013, JDiala has made 1,957 edits, with a profile displaying a Palestinian flag and a quote from Haaretz columnist Amira Hass.
• June 8, 16:51: User “Favonian” applies “protection” to restrict edits, citing the topic’s contentious nature.
• June 8, 17:05: User “Dynamo128” posts on the discussion page linked to the article, urging editors to “calm down.”
• June 8, 18:54: User “Dylanvt” starts a second page named “Nuseirat refugee camp massacre”, highlights Palestinian casualty figures prominently. This page got 37,029 views, nearly half as many as the first, with 78,862 views.
• June 9, 02:43: User Daniel Case locks the second Nuseirat page, limiting editing access.
• June 9, 04:48: A now-defunct user account “Owenglyndur” adds that Hamas threatened remaining hostages post-operation, citing The Times of Israel.
• June 10, 14:16: Dylanvt questions removed mentions of civilian casualties on the “2024 Nuseirat rescue operation” discussion page, citing Israeli army casualty reports.
• June 10, 21:24: User “KronosAlight” responds, questioning evidence of Israeli military responsibility for civilian casualties, citing the territory being under Hamas control.

The article incited anger on social media, particularly because Google searches for “Nuseirat massacre” primarily returned the page titled “rescue operation”.

Wow. Google and Wikipedia, when you search for Nuseirat Massacre. #Gaza https://t.co/SomtEFN63G pic.twitter.com/ajB5c9opj8

— Emily F. (@My_Clever_Name) June 10, 2024

Users attempting to edit the page themselves found it restricted, leading to further outrage.

“This page is protected to prevent vandalism”….wow…so Wikipedia is also helping push the Zionist agenda. This was the Nuseirat massacre! Over 250 people were murdered in an attempt to free 4 people. pic.twitter.com/R2NplilMS2

— 1Creek🔻 (@1creeknation) June 11, 2024

Why did Wikipedia lock the Nuseirat page?

Typically, Wikipedia permits any registered user to edit its pages. However, certain articles can be locked to prevent “disruptive editing on controversial pages”. This reduces and slows down the number of edits.

The Nuseirat pages are “fully locked”, meaning only extended confirmed users and administrators may edit them.

Editors trying to access either page are currently redirected to the discussion page.

Have there been previous edit wars on Wikipedia?

• Wikipedia pages of high-profile politicians often face content “vandalism”. For instance, Pakistani politician Maryam Nawaz’s page was locked after several vandalism attempts in 2018. Nawaz, presently the chief minister of Punjab and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, was jailed for seven years in a corruption case before being acquitted by an Islamabad court in September 2022.
• Former US President George W Bush’s Wikipedia page is among the most edited with 48,105 changes. The 2003 invasion of Iraq sparked debates among Wikipedia editors over the existence of weapons of mass destruction.
• The COVID-19 pandemic page on Wikipedia received tens of thousands of edits, including entries about conspiracy theories on the virus's origin. Wikipedia addressed misinformation through initiatives like Wiki Project Medicine, involving doctors and scientists to correct false information.