Do two clips of the same adults carrying a wounded boy in Gaza prove that the scene was staged in different locations? No, that's not true: The clips on social media come from a single video that depicts the response to a single event in Gaza -- a blast near a medical facility. Lead Stories confirmed that the clips came…
Does a video on social media of a person in military uniform setting a tent on fire after circling it with a toy plane show an authentic Israeli soldier mocking Palestinian victims of Israel's 2024 Rafah offensive? No, that's not true: The footage does not document a real-life scene. It depicts an artistic performance. The claim appeared in a video…
Does a video of a man collapsing in the street prove that his fall was staged for pro-Hamas propaganda and that it happened in Gaza in 2023? No, that's not true: The footage predates the 2023 Hamas-Israel war. Contrary to online speculations, it doesn't show an incident in Gaza -- it was filmed in the West Bank in 2015. Lead…
Does a video on social media provide evidence that Hamas has been staging civilian casualties in Gaza by filming rubber dolls that look like real babies? No, that's not true: The video reused on social media was first posted months before the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict. Neither the footage nor the pre-war post said anything about Gaza. The claim appeared in…
Does a post on social media confirm that a Palestinian family grieved over a doll wrapped in white for burial, staging their loss? No, that's not true: The available body of evidence strongly suggests that the footage showed the body of an infant. The scene was shot from multiple angles by at least two different people, and both said it…
Does a video of a man, described in a news report as a militant, show a staged arrest on the Gaza border because he is first seen blindfolded and in his underwear, then apparently putting his pants back on with no blindfold? No, that's not true: While social media accounts did not alter the Fox News footage compared to the…
Does a video show a Gaza man giving "an Oscar-worthy performance for the camera" with fake injuries? No, that's not true: According to translated audio, the footage shows a group of people saying that the man's wounds are not as serious as they could be, in an apparent effort to reassure a relative or friend. Viral posts spreading the claim…
Does a video on X show Hamas crisis actors pretending to be Palestinian corpses in October 2023? No, that's not true: This video was originally posted on YouTube in 2013. It shows students protesting at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, featuring a display of "corpses" represented by actors. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X, formerly…
Does a video show helicopters from "Arab countries" flying toward Gaza in formation with their flags? No, that's not true: This video was filmed on October 4, 2023, in Veracruz, Mexico, and features an air show that was staged as part of the 202-year anniversary of the founding of the Mexican Navy. It has nothing to do with the Hamas-Israel…
Does a viral video capture the staging of a "fake child death" aimed at blaming Hamas for attacking civilians during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, or during later atrocities? No, that's not true: The footage predates this escalation by more than a year and shows the production of a short film named "Empty Place" that can…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
Spotted something? Let us know!.
