Hamas-Israel Crisis

Did an Israeli toy company make a Palestinian baby doll? No, that's not true: This baby doll was made as an art project by Instagram user @vlocke_negro. According to their Instagram post about the doll, they made this doll in support of Palestinians. The claim appeared on Instagram (archived here) on January 9, 2024, with the caption, "Disgusting!!!!!" The on-screen…

Is Starbucks leaving Morocco and San Francisco due to boycotts over the Hamas-Israel crisis and pro-Palestinian protests? No, that's not true: Starbucks announced the closure of seven stores in San Francisco on October 2, 2023, five days before the Hamas-Israel war began, the company spokesperson confirmed to Lead Stories. Starbucks also confirmed that the company continues to operate stores in…

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…

Did U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say that a ceasefire is when "somebody sees a fire"? No, that's not true: This is a deepfake video originating from a meme account that identified it as such with a "deepfake" hashtag. The voice track that mimics the voice of Ocasio-Cortez was added over a video clip taken from a livestream posted by the…

Does a video show Israel bombing a Palestinian water tank, injuring civilians? No, that's not true: The video was not taken in Palestinian territory and does not show a water tank being attacked. Rather, it shows the bombing of a fuel tank in Sudan during the 2023 conflict there. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on…

Did CNN air footage of a Palestinian crisis actor wrapped in a white shroud pretending to be a corpse who moved their head instead of staying perfectly still? No, that's not true: The CNN footage shows the body of a dead person wrapped in a shroud that was gathered and tied at their head. When a man adjusted the shroud,…

Did Yemen officially declare war on Israel in October 2023? No, that's not true: No credible sources have reported that as of November 1, 2023. Posts on social media making the claim misrepresented the role of the Houthi movement, which tried to launch drones and missiles targeting Israel in October 2023. This group is not internationally recognized as Yemen's government.…

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…

Was the same Palestinian child used to stage fake rescue photos from three separate Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip on the same day in October 2023? No, that's not true: These three photos were taken in Aleppo, Syria, on August 27, 2016, by photojournalist Ameer Alhalbi. These photos are unrelated to the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict. In the aftermath of…

Did a "Hamas crisis actor" fake a video during the Hamas-Israel conflict in October 2023 that showed him hospitalized one day and walking around OK the next? No, that's not true: The side-by-side videos on social media show two different people. Additionally, one of the videos was shot more than a month earlier -- not the day before the other…