Fact check: Fake videos about Hamas attack on Israel
October 10, 2023
The recent attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel has claimed the lives of hundreds of people. The terrorists launched a major attack on Saturday, abducting numerous Israelis and taking them back to the Gaza Strip as hostages. Following Israeli counterattacks on Gaza, more than 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.
Does this video show Israeli soldiers kidnapping a Palestinian girl?
Claim: One video circulating online (archived here) purports to show Israeli soldiers abducting 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.
DW 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 terrorists 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.
DW 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.
DW 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.
This article was translated from German.