Israel Hamas 2023

Did a billboard in New York City's Times Square say "CEASEFIRES ARE ANTI-SEMITIC"? No, that's not true: An image of this billboard on social media was digitally altered. In the original October 2023 photo of the billboard, the ad urges: "Be Human. Stand For Israel." The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on…

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…

Does an image of a map with a cluster of red location pins show the locations of sex offenders in Israel? No, that's not true: The image was part of an edited screenshot taken from Red Alerts - Cumta, an app that alerts people in Israel when and where a Red Alert siren is activated. The developer of the app…

Did Greta Thunberg wear a Hamas headband and hold an Islamic State flag in an image that appeared on social media? No, that's not true: The picture showing the Swedish climate activist has been changed from the original using photo editing. While Thunberg does support a ceasefire in Gaza and "Justice for Palestine," based on posts on her social media…

Does a viral video show a Palestinian teenager killed by the Israel Defense Forces during the 2023 Hamas-Israel war? No, that's not true: The footage went viral in 2015. The events preceding the scene in the video were highly contested, but the video showing the 13-year-old bleeding on the ground captured his injuries, not his death. He was later convicted…

Does a viral video on the X platform prove that "the Kamal Hospital in the Gaza Strip" was attacked by the Israeli forces "with a bulldozer" in 2023? No, that's not true: The footage predates the conflict. It is a least a decade old, and was posted as news coverage of an incident in Egypt. The claim appeared in a…

Does a video of a baby with medical tubes and sensors attached to their body show the consequences from conflict in Gaza for Palestinian children in 2023? No, that's not true: The footage in a post making that implication predates the 2023 Hamas-Israel war. The video comes from an account of an American family documenting the journey of their baby…

Did Israel officially admit that its army bombed the Nova Festival and caused the death of 364 Israelis during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023? No, that's not true: Israeli officials called the claim "untrue" and "fake." Additionally, there is no evidence presented to support the assertion that the Israel Defense Forces attacked the music festival, resulting in the…

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…

Was the academic year in Gaza suspended because "all students" have died? No, that's not true: Available data suggests that most schoolchildren are still alive, even though the Hamas-Israel war has disrupted their education. While international organizations have drawn attention to the death toll among minors in the war, none state that Gaza's entire school-age population -- some 625,000 children,…