Did soccer manager Pep Guardiola avoid shaking hands with "the Israeli representative" in May 2024? No, that's not true: A viral video on social media misidentified the man passed over by Guardiola as he greeted a line of well-wishers at a match in 2023. The bypassed man was another soccer manager, Alan Smith. The claim appeared in a post (archived…
Does a video on social media show Cristiano Ronaldo offering support to "children of Gaza"? No, that's not true: The original video of soccer superstar Ronaldo was posted in 2016 and he said it was for the "children of Syria," not the children of Gaza. His voice has been altered to change the word "Syria" to "Gaza," and the background…
Does a photo portray a funeral procession in southern Gaza after an Israeli strike on Rafah in late May 2024? No, that's not true: The image predates this particular attack. It shows a different funeral that took place in central Gaza on December 25, 2023, much farther from the border between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah. The claim appeared in…
Does a viral image show a tunnel between Gaza's Rafah and Egypt? No, that's not true: Previously published media reports and photos identify it as a tunnel that used to connect northern Gaza with Israel. It was discovered by the Israeli military near the Erez checkpoint in mid-December 2023. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly…
Did South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem prohibit sales of sliced watermelons, proclaiming the fruit "antisemitic"? No, that's not true: As of May 2024, no executive action or local bill outlawed the sale of watermelon slices, despite claims in a social media post. The author of the post hinted in later updates that it was meant as satire. The governor's press…
Did the United Nations revise the Gaza death toll in early May 2024, resulting in almost 50 percent fewer women and children reported as killed than previously estimated? No, that's not true: While the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs regularly updates its figures of reported casualties in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the numbers being…
Did Belgian public broadcaster VRT make an editorial decision to intentionally interrupt Eurovision song contest coverage to express its protest against Israel's actions in Gaza? No, that's not true: The message that appeared on the TV screens was posted by VRT unions, not VRT, a spokesperson for the TV channel confirmed to Lead Stories. One union openly wrote about that…
Does a viral video show actor Harrison Ford advocating for Palestine? No, that's not true: A fragment of his speech was taken out of context. Ford was discussing the Amazon rainforest at a 2019 United Nations climate event, over four years before the Hamas-Israel war that began on October 7, 2023. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on…
Is a photo showing a woman holding a pro-Palestine sign that reads "You don't get to choose who we rape" authentic? No, that's not true: the photo was digitally altered to change the original sign which read "You don't get to choose how we resist." While the woman in the picture is a real protester at a real pro-Palestine ceasefire…
Did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make an announcement on April 17, 2024, pledging to spend $5 billion to construct new settlements in the Gaza Strip? No, that's not true: The video posted on X shows Netanyahu speaking in Hebrew, but the English subtitles do not accurately reflect what he said. The subtitles mention "settlements of the Gaza Strip" but…
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