Does this video show a Palestinian girl was killed by an Israeli settler and that a weapon was planted next to her body to "falsify the truth"? No, there's no evidence that's true: The video posted with the allegation does not prove the claim and other recordings of the event do not support the claim. A weapon is seen near her body, but it's not clear from the footage how it got there. It's also not clear from the video who shot her. According to the Israeli military, soldiers shot and killed a female who opened fire near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on May 19, 2021.
The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) on May 19, 2021. The post, which included a short video, read:
An #Israeli terrorist settler shot and killed a Palestinian girl in cold blood while the Israeli soldiers were watching. Then they did an awful thing to falsify the truth and pass their misleading narrative!
Users on social media saw this at the time of writing:
The video in the post is roughly 30 seconds. It shows a stopped vehicle with emergency lights and people with weapons. One, dressed in what looks to be civilian clothes, kneels on the ground with what looks like a long gun aimed high, not level with the ground; others, in uniform, are standing. Shots ring out, and the video cuts to an image of a female on the ground. The video ends with a still photo of what looks to be the same person, covered now except for her face, with an assault rifle on the ground nearby.
Text at the bottom of the video read:
An armed Israeli settler shot a Palestinian girl near illegal settlement of 'Kiryat Arba'
The Israeli soldiers were watching and didn't act to stop the terrorist settler
The Palestinian girl was murdered on the spot
But wait to see how they deliberately falsified the truth
They threw a weapon next to her to pass their misleading narrative
Despite what the video claims, it's not clear from the footage who fired the fatal shot or shots. It's also not clear how the weapon came to be near her body. The video has been edited, jumping from the shooting scene to showing what looks like a woman lying on the ground. It does not show anyone tossing the weapon near her body; it just cuts from full-motion video to end with a still of a figure on the ground with a rifle nearby.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), soldiers shot and killed a woman who opened fire near Kiryat Arba, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, on May 19, 2021. The military released footage of what it said was the woman, armed with an M-16 assault rifle, approaching troops and civilians. The IDF said two soldiers returned fire and killed her.
A terrorist armed with an M-16 assault rifle arrived at Elias junction near Hebron.
-- Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 19, 2021
The terrorist started shooting while advancing towards IDF troops & civilians at a bus stop.
2 IDF soldiers shot & neutralized her. No IDF injuries were reported. pic.twitter.com/3kPWUHQoiG
The video released by the IDF via Twitter does not capture the actual shooting and the perspective is from far away. It shows a person, appearing to hold a weapon, walking around a slight bend in the road.
Lead Stories has covered other claims related to the May 2021 crisis in the Middle East. For example, we reported that a child in Gaza did not capture a video of members of Hamas driving a truck loaded with rocket launchers through a residential street in Gaza; a TikTok video does not show a large display of Israeli artillery; and there is no evidence to support the claim that Turkey and Russia are getting ready to attack Israel.
