Wed 11 October 2023:
The recent attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel has claimed the lives of hundreds of people. The group launched a major attack on Saturday. Following Israeli counterattacks on Gaza, more than 1000 Palestinians killed and 120,000 Palestinian civilians have been displaced, according to UN figures.
Meanwhile, countless videos are circulating on social media, including on TikTok, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Telegram. Some observers say the flood of fake content exceeds that of previous conflicts. But many of the reports and videos shared online are not what they seem.
Israeli forces sharing ‘doctored’ video: Monitor
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has shared a “doctored” video showing a “deeply disturbing potential war crime”.
The Israeli forces “posted a doctored video alleging eliminating combatants”, the monitor said on X. “But their own footage shows said individuals unarmed, raising their hands up & kneeling down to surrender before” the soldiers shoot them.
“The crime scene has then been doctored & assault rifles appear to have been added to the bodies. These individuals may have been civilians who crossed the fence after its collapse. Their killing as they surrendered is an act of extrajudicial execution that constitutes a war crime.”
Deeply disturbing potential war crime: the IDF posted a doctored video alleging eliminating combatants. But their own footage shows said individuals unarmed, raising their hands up & kneeling down to surrender before IDF soldiers execute them from the back. pic.twitter.com/F7XDMRDENr
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) October 11, 2023
Does this video show Isreali soldiers kidnapping a Palestinian girl?
Claim: One video circulating online (archived here) purports to show Israeli soldiers abducing two little girls. The person who posted the video claims: “Latest: Cowardly Israeli soldiers kidnapped 6-year-old and 3-year-old Palestinian girls.” The clip was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
A screengrab of the fake kidnapping video
Fact check: False.
In recent days, many videos have surfaced online purporting to show kidnapped children. According to media reports, Hamas terrorists abducted children in their recent attack. News agencies report that Qatari mediators are negotiating the release of Israeli women and children in return for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
The video in question is actually at least two years old. A reverse image search led to YouTube, where the video was published in 2021 on the channelbelonging to Turkish public broadcaster TRT World. According to the information on YouTube, the crying girls are actually asking Israeli policemen to release their brother. If you look closely, you can see the word, police, on the car. In addition, the Israeli police emblem is visible on the sleeve of one of the officers.
The recently published video and older YouTube version both reference an Instagram account in the top right corner. Tracing the clip back to the Instagram account of Eye On Palestine, which has around 4 milion followers, it shows the video was first posted on May 24, 2021, and appears to be an original. According to the description, the clip shows Palestinian girls asking Israeli police officers not to arrest a 10-year-old boy because he threw stones. The incident occurred in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem, and did not happen recently.
Does this video show dozens of Hamas fighter attacking Israel?
Claim: This TikTok video (archived here) purports to show dozens of Hamas fighters paragliding into Israel. It has been viewed over 2 million times.
A screengrab from the video allegedly showing Palestinian paragliders
Fact check: False.
The video supposedly shows paragliders flying towards a place in Israel. It also shows palm trees and a distinctive white building. But this video actually shows an Egyptian location. The white building is an Egyptian military academy in Cairo.
If you look closely, you can see an Egyptian flag on the building and in front of it the military academy’s coat of arms. The supposed Palestinian paragliders are actually parachutists and their parachutes bear the Egyptian flag. Paragliders can be used to fly several kilometers but parachutes are designed to slow one’s fall. We could not find the original clip but the video likely shows an Egyptian military exercise.
Although this video does not show Hamas paragliders, the militant organization did release a video showing some militants training to paraglide into Israel.
Does this video show Cristiano Ronaldo supporting the Palestinians?
Claim: Some social media users on X (formerly Twitter) are sharing a video(archived here) supposedly showing Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo holding up a Palestinian flag after a match.
This grainy video does not show Cristiano Ronaldo
Fact check: False.
This viral video, with more than 50,000 views, is a fake. It shows Moroccan national football player Jawad El Yamiq waving a Palestinian flag after his team defeated Canada at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Several international media outlets covered the event at the time and took photographs of the jubilation.
The video in question can, for example, be found on YouTube, where the World Cup is mentioned. If you look closely, you can see another man in the clip waving a Moroccan flag next to El Yamiq. The Moroccan team waved Palestinian flags several times after their victories.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
______________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
