In the days following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, social media was filled with videos and photographs of the conflict, making it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.
While many actual images and reports of what happened appeared, they were mixed with other content with false claims, use and manipulation of videos of other events.
Between the fabrications and distortions, a plethora of “fake news” and disinformation circulated: the news of the kidnapping of an Israeli commander was false, as was the White House memo in which US President Joe Biden declared thousands of millions of dollars in support for Israel.
Fakes also include old videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin and even film footage as if they were real.
The Associated Press verified several cases and concluded they were misinformation.
Video shows BBC News report confirming Ukraine supplied weapons to Hamas?
No. The video, widely circulated on social media, was fabricated, officials from the BBC and Bellingcat, an investigative website cited as the alleged source, confirmed.
The images, with the distinctive BBC logo, were intended to replicate a BBC news report of Bellingcat’s recent reporting on Ukraine’s arms sales to Hamas.
“Bellingcat: The failure of the Ukrainian military offensive and the Hamas attack are linked,” reads the text of the video, which has more than 2,500 comments and 110,000 views on the Telegram network. “The Palestinians have acquired firearms, ammunition, drones and other weapons,” it further states.
“We have not reached such conclusions or made such statements,” Bellingcat wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), which included screenshots of the false report. “We would like to emphasize that this is an invention and should be treated as such,” he further stated.
Eliot Higgins, the founder of the Amsterdam-based organization, noted in another post on X that these accusations were supported by Russian social media users.
The BBC did not respond to emails seeking comment on the matter, but Shayan Sardarizadeh, a fact-checking reporter, confirmed in a post on X that the video is fake.
Was the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios destroyed during the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip?
It’s a fake copy. Church officials confirmed on Thursday that the building remained intact even after the explosion, but social media posts incorrectly claimed that the attack targeted a Christian temple located in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza’s Old City.
“Israel just blew up the third oldest church in the world,” wrote one Instagram user, adding: “The Orthodox Church of St. Porphyry in Gaza was 1616 years old.” The AP’s report said the allegations were false.
Video shows a young actor filmed lying in a pool of fake blood as an example of propaganda used in the war between Israel and Hamas?
The video is taken from the behind-the-scenes filming of Empty Space, a short film focusing on the story of Ahmad Manasra, a Palestinian arrested in 2015 at the age of 13 on charges of stabbing two Israelis.
Social media users on both sides of the war—Israel and Hamas—are sharing the video, each falsely claiming it is evidence that the other side is engaged in propaganda.
In the video, a young man is lying on the sidewalk, covered in blood, with his right leg bent back, but this is a short film. In the photographs, a film crew appears around the actor. Other actors walk around dressed as soldiers and in the clothing of many Orthodox Jews.
“Look at the Israelis making fake videos about ‘Palestinian freedom fighters killing children,’” said the tweet, which had received more than 5,600 likes and 4,400 shares as of Wednesday.
An Instagram post claims otherwise: “These terrorists are dressing up as JEWISH soldiers to create fake videos of Israeli soldiers! False propaganda!
But none of the statements are true. After all, the video shows footage from a 2022 short film directed by Auni Eshtaive, a West Bank filmmaker.
Joe Biden announced he would send $8 billion in military aid to Israel?
No. An image of the memo widely circulated on social media was fabricated: Biden never made such statements, the White House confirmed on Monday.
A doctored image of the memo began circulating on social media days after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
The purported memo is formatted to mimic a presidential order similar to those posted on the White House website, with a blue and white White House logo at the top and Biden’s name at the bottom.
“Biden signs order to send $8 billion in military aid to Israel,” wrote a user who shared the purported note on X (formerly Twitter).
The memo appears to be a doctored version of Biden’s order to provide military aid to Ukraine in the summer of 2023.
Video shows Hamas militia parachuting onto a sports ground before attacking Israelis during the group’s surprise attack on Israel?
It’s a fake copy. Although Hamas has used paragliders to transport fighters across the border between the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, these images have been online since at least September and show people with parachutes, yes, but in a sports field in Cairo, Egypt.
“Hamas paraglided among Israeli citizens and began killing them,” the video says. Posted on TikTok, the video has been viewed more than 38,000 times. But in fact, it has been “online” since at least September 27, when it was posted to TikTok with the location tag “Egypt.”
Details in the video point to Egypt as the location. The images show a man wearing a blue shirt with “El Nasr SC” – the name of the Cairo club – written on the back. And in the video, the crowd doesn’t seem as concerned about the arrival of the paratroopers as one might expect if it were an invading force. Many women and children run towards them with mobile phones in their hands and take videos and photographs from the air.
Two videos show the Russian president warning the US to “stay away” from the latest war in the Gaza Strip?
No. Both videos have been circulating online for several months now, and Putin appears to be talking about the Russian-Ukrainian war rather than the conflict in the Middle East. The subtitles are fake.
“America wants to destroy Israel the same way we destroyed Ukraine in the past,” reads the caption to one of the videos. “I warn America: Russia will help Palestine, but America will not be able to do anything.” A TikTok post dedicated to this video received about 11,600 views just a few days ago.
The caption on another Putin video, filmed elsewhere, says the same thing: “I warn America to stay away from the war between Palestine and Israel.” But these two videos were filmed long before the latest war between Israel and Hamas and do not contain any mention of Israel.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.