The Washington Post opinion page retracted a cartoon Wednesday that depicted a Hamas leader using human shields after facing widespread criticism for promoting racist stereotypes. In a note to readers, David Shipley, the Post opinion editor, wrote, “I saw the drawing as a caricature of a specific individual, the Hamas spokesperson who celebrated the attacks on unarmed civilians in Israel. However, the reaction to the image convinced me that I had missed something profound, and divisive, and I regret that.”

The cartoon, created by conservative cartoonist Michael Ramirez, portrays a Hamas representative with an exaggerated nose and a snarling mouth, hiding behind a Palestinian woman and several children. The spokesperson is depicted saying, “How dare Israel attack civilians.”

After receiving critical feedback, Shipley published a selection of the responses below his note. One letter described the cartoon as “a deeply racist depiction of the ‘heathen’ and his barbarous cruelty toward women and children,” while another labeled it as “an attempt at excusing Israeli war crimes.”

Palestinian American poet Remi Kanazi criticized the cartoon on Instagram, saying, “This is The Washington Post, This is the kind of anti-Palestinian racism that’s acceptable for publication.”

The cartoon, which was featured on the Post’s website and in print editions Tuesday, reflected a controversial rationale used by the Israeli government in its bombing of civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Earlier, the Israeli army had stated, “Most senior Hamas political and military officials are hiding in the hospitals, especially the Shifa Hospital,” in reference to the largest hospital in Gaza that has been targeted in multiple Israeli strikes. (Hamas and Shifa staff have both denied claims that the hospital complex has been used by members of Hamas as a command center, according to the Associated Press.)

Israel’s recent assault on Gaza was in response to Hamas’s October 7 incursion targeting mostly civilians in southern Israel, resulting in 1,400 deaths and approximately 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials. The Israeli army’s ensuing counteroffensive has led to the deaths of nearly 11,000 people, including about 4,400 children and 2,900 women, as reported by the territory’s health ministry. On Wednesday, a senior Biden administration official stated that the death toll is likely “higher than is being cited.”