Does a photo published on social media show Palestinian children killed during the Israel-Hamas conflict that began on October 7, 2023? No, that's not true: While the image does depict children who lost their lives in the Middle East, it actually dates back to 2013 and was taken during the civil war in Syria. The person making the claim later posted a correction saying his intent was "to present a general depiction of child mortality" and that he would be more diligent in the future.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X (formerly Twitter) by Sulaiman Ahmed on October 14, 2023. The post's caption said:
CHILD GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE
614 Palestinian children murdered by the Israeli IOF Forces
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Oct 16 14:54:41 2023 UTC)
The image
A Google Images search (archived here) shows that this picture has been circulating since 2013 and is from Syria, not Israel or the Palestinian territories. Two articles featuring the photo can be seen below (National Geographic on the left and UPI on the right):
(Source: National Geographic and UPI screenshots taken on Mon Oct 16 2023 UTC)
Additionally, Ahmed published a follow-up to his original post on X, acknowledging that the picture of the babies had nothing to do with the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict. In part, it said:
The image depicted is from Syria and was intended to illustrate the tragic reality of child mortality. However, some
Zionists have contested its accuracy, making this clarification necessary.My original intent was to present a general depiction of child mortality. Due to heightened scrutiny on my account, I will make diligent efforts to ensure that all images and photos are appropriately linked to the text of the tweet.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Oct 16 16:20:09 2023 UTC)
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Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict can be found here.
