FACT CHECK: IS THERE REALLY AN ISRAELI MILITARY CHECKPOINT IN THE DAMASCUS COUNTRYSIDE?

Sat 27 December 2025:

Social media accounts and pages circulated an image of a military checkpoint next to an Israeli flag and a banner that sparked controversy.

The image shows Israeli soldiers under a large banner that reads, “Sleep soundly, Muawiyah. Damascus is ours until the Day of Judgment,” alongside the Syrian flag, the phrase “Youth of Construction and Renewal,” and the word “Damascus.

One X (formerly Twitter) user name @Mohammed Al-Jajeh posted this image on December 23, 2025 and viewed by more than 8000.

ارفع راسك فوق انت سوري حر … pic.twitter.com/GxF2Q2dtn3

— Mohammed Al-Jajeh 🇸🇪 (@mohammed_jajeh) December 23, 2025

The image is being widely circulated on WhatsApp alongside a viral message: 🔖Right under the banner that reads “Sleep peacefully, Muawiyah, for Damascus is ours until the Day of Judgment” Israel has set up a checkpoint and planted its flag. Death to Jewlani ISIS leader.

This image also widely shared on other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram.

Old photoshopped images

Upon investigating the Independent Press found that the claim was false and that the image was doctored.

The original image dates back to 2020 and shows an Israeli checkpoint on the Jordanian border, specifically at the crossing point on the Israeli-Jordanian border in the Arava Valley. It was taken on April 30, 2020.

We have also noted that the Jordanian flag is visible in both the original and the circulated image.

Click here for original image that was published in Foreign Policy website

Annexation Could Be the Final Blow to the Israel-Jordan Relationship

Fact:

Independent Press also found that the original image had been altered by adding visual elements, including a banner that read: “Rest in peace, Muawiyah, for Damascus is ours until the Day of Judgment.”

A massive smear campaign

Following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani) has transitioned from a militant leader to the President of Syria. Because he has aggressively pivoted Syria away from Tehran’s influence, Iran has launched a coordinated propaganda campaign to delegitimize his leadership.

Iranian state media (like IRNA and Press TV) and proxy networks (such as Sabereen News in Iraq) consistently refuse to use his legal name, Ahmed al-Sharaa. Instead, they refer to him exclusively by his former nom de guerre, al-Julani, to remind the world of his past ties to Al-Qaeda. The goal is to frame his transition as a “PR stunt” and portray him as a radical extremist hiding behind a civilian title.

To maintain influence among Syria’s religious minorities (Alawites, Christians, and Druze), Iranian propaganda brands al-Sharaa’s government as a “Takfiri regime.” They claim that he plans to ethnically cleanse anyone who isn’t a Sunni extremist, despite al-Sharaa’s public efforts to project a message of national unity and minority protection.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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