Hamas Israel War

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…

Was there a debate that took place in the UK in May 2024 about removing the Holocaust from school curricula? No, that's not true: A social media post making the claim in May 2024 began circulating in 2019. Years earlier, a 2007 report circulated about one UK school where the Holocaust was not taught as an optional topic. The British…

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…

Did King Frederik X of Denmark wave a Palestinian flag from a balcony in Copenhagen as a crowd of protesters were passing below? No, that's not true: This video was filmed in Malmo, Sweden, about 17 miles away and across the Øresund strait from the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. The man on the balcony waving the flag is not…

Does a video in a social media post show "Muslim migrants" destroying public property because an Israeli singer was featured in the Eurovision song contest? No, that's not true: The footage shows a 2009 anti-Israel demonstration in Sweden that turned violent. That 2009 demonstration occurred during a tennis tournament and was not related to that year's Eurovision contest, which was…