Israel Hamas 2023

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…

Does a viral video capture people in Rafah applying makeup in order to fake injuries? No, that's not true: The claim mislabels a behind-the-scenes video from the production of a Palestinian TV series, not real-life scenes taking place in Gaza on May 6, 2024. The project premiered on March 12, 2024. The story appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Does a photo show that students in the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University installed inflatable dummies of paragliders, referencing one method that Hamas reportedly used during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel? No, that's not true: What could have been mistaken for two dummies in a low-quality picture on social media were emojis, not authentic objects. Photos of the…

Does a viral video prove that Israel voted "for Palestine" during a United Nations Security Council meeting? No, that's not true: In the meeting the then-president of the U.N. Security Council read a list of the countries supporting a resolution on Gaza days after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. He included Israel but he immediately corrected himself and…

Did President Joe Biden give $16 billion of American money away to Iran in 2023? No, that's not true: First, it's important to say that the amount in question is $6 billion, not $16 billion. Secondly, the money wasn't U.S. taxpayer dollars to begin with; the funds were Iranian financial assets that had been frozen in South Korea due to…