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Within the days since Hamas stormed into Israel early Oct. 7, a flood of movies and images purporting to show the conflict have crammed social media, making it tough for onlookers from around the globe to kind reality from fiction.
Whereas loads of actual imagery and accounts of the ensuing carnage have emerged, they’ve been intermingled with customers pushing false claims and misrepresenting movies from different occasions.
Among the many fabrications, customers have shared false claims {that a} high Israeli commander had been kidnapped, circulated a false video imitating a BBC Information report, and pushed outdated and unrelated clips of Russian President Vladimir Putin with inaccurate English captions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared conflict in opposition to Hamas after the Palestinian militant group launched a shock assault on Israel, which the IDF says left greater than 1,400 useless and 1000’s injured.
Here’s a nearer take a look at the misinformation spreading on-line — and the information.
CLAIM: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to intervene within the newest Israel-Hamas conflict.
THE FACTS: The conservative Muslim president has mentioned no such factor. A social media submit he wrote just lately in regards to the ongoing battle has been misquoted.
Social media customers are sharing a quote they are saying is from Erdogan, through which the lengthy serving chief warns his nation will take decisive steps to finish the battle if the destruction of Hamas-controlled Gaza continues.
“Turkish President Erdogan has THREATENED to intervene within the Israeli conflict on Gaza: ‘I name on all humanity to take motion to cease this unprecedented brutality within the Gaza Strip. If not, we’ll do it’,” wrote one consumer on X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter, in a submit that has been favored or shared greater than 105,000 instances.
However the posts are misquoting a remark Erdogan posted Oct. 17 on his private account on X in regards to the lethal battle.
Within the message, which was written in Turkish, the president did “invite all humanity” to assist cease the “unprecedented brutality in Gaza,” because the posts declare.
However he doesn’t write “If not, we’ll do it” or different threatening phrases suggesting a direct army intervention by Turkey, in keeping with native Turkish audio system and different specialists who reviewed Erdogan’s social media posts for The Related Press.
“President Erdogan didn’t threaten to intervene within the battle,” Steven Prepare dinner, a Center East skilled on the Council on International Relations, a Washington assume tank, wrote in an e-mail. “He was talking typically about getting the world to place stress on Israel to cease its army marketing campaign.”
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, a political science professor at Northwestern College who specializes within the Center East, added that she hasn’t seen any indication that Erdogan has made such a risk elsewhere.
Turkish authorities spokespersons didn’t instantly reply to emails in search of remark, however Erdogan posted a lengthier assertion on his private account on X, additionally written in Turkish, through which he denounced Israel’s assaults on Gaza, criticized Western nations and media shops and referred to as for the worldwide neighborhood to push for a ceasefire.
The official, English-language account for the Turkish president’s workplace echoed that sentiment in a submit a few name between Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
“Underscoring that forcing the Palestinians in Gaza emigrate from their homeland is unacceptable, President Erdoğan careworn that Türkiye will proceed to make each effort to ensure that peace to be ensured and for humanitarian help in addition to healthcare providers to be instantly delivered to Gaza,” the workplace wrote.
— Related Press author Philip Marcelo in New York contributed this report.
President Joe Biden reaffirmed america’ assist of Israel in its conflict with Hamas on the bottom in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
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CLAIM: The Israeli army confirmed it bombed a hospital in Gaza in a social media submit written in Arabic.
THE FACTS: A screenshot circulating on-line reveals a Fb submit from an account posing because the Israeli army. No such submit exists on the army’s precise social media pages and its high Arabic-speaking spokesperson confirmed his workplace has issued no such assertion.
Within the wake of the Oct. 17 lethal blast at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, social media customers shared the screenshot, claiming it’s from a member of the Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking media relations staff.
The consumer’s profile picture bears the blue-and-white emblem of the spokesperson’s workplace, which options radio waves atop the Israeli army’s conventional image of an olive branch-wrapped sword.
The submit, written in Arabic, suggests the Jewish nation mentioned it bombed the hospital as a result of the Gaza Metropolis medical facility lacked provides and workers.
“Israeli official fb submit: ‘As a result of lack of medical gear and the shortage of medical workers, it was determined to bomb the Baptist Hospital in Gaza and provides them euthanasia’,” wrote one consumer on X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter, in a submit translating the screenshot. Related posts had been additionally broadly shared on TikTok and different social media platforms.
However the purported assertion wasn’t penned by the Israeli army’s press workplace, its high Arabic-speaking spokesperson confirmed this week.
“Simply to make clear: I didn’t challenge any assertion or remark relating to the Baptist Hospital in Gaza,” wrote Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media department of the Israeli army’s Spokesperson’s Unit, in a submit on X from Oct. 17, when the blast occurred. “All of the information circulating in my title comes from the Hamas media shops and is totally false.”
The workplace on Thursday confirmed the submit didn’t come from the army’s official Arabic web page, saying in an emailed assertion: “The IDF has made it very clear that there was no IDF strike on the hospital.”
What’s extra, the Israeli army’s press workplace doesn’t use its personal brand on its precise social media accounts, not like the pretend account.
The unit’s separate Fb pages in English and Hebrew, in addition to its X account written in Farsi, for instance, all use the army’s most important image. That gold-colored emblem options the olive branch-wrapped sword with the Star of David within the background.
In the meantime Adraee’s social media accounts, that are the principle channel for the Israeli army’s messages in Arabic, characteristic his profile image and a maroonlogo consisting of 5 swords with flames within the background as its cowl photograph.
The unique pretend account and submit on Fb additionally seem to have been deleted as of Oct. 19. Spokespersons for Meta, the mother or father firm of Fb, didn’t reply to an e-mail in search of remark.
There have been conflicting claims of who was liable for the hospital blast. Officers in Gaza rapidly blamed an Israeli airstrike.
Israel denied it was concerned and launched a flurry of video, audio and different data that it mentioned confirmed the blast was as an alternative as a result of a missile misfire by Islamic Jihad, one other militant group working in Gaza that has dismissed that declare.
The Related Press has not independently verified any of the claims or proof launched by the events.
— Related Press author Philip Marcelo in New York contributed this report.
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CLAIM: A video reveals Qatar’s emir threatening to chop off the world’s pure fuel provide if Israel doesn’t cease bombing Gaza.
THE FACTS: Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, says no such factor within the broadly circulating clip, which is greater than six years outdated. A spokesperson for the Qatari authorities additionally confirmed that neither the emir nor another authorities official has threatened to chop off exports in response to the battle.
Many on-line are sharing the video of the Persian Gulf nation’s ruler, falsely claiming it reveals him saying in Arabic that he’s keen to halt the distribution of its fuel reserves to attain his desired finish to the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict.
“BREAKING: Qatar is threatening to create a world fuel scarcity in assist of Palestine,” wrote one consumer who posted the video on X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter. “If the bombing of Gaza doesn’t cease, we’ll cease fuel provide of the world.”
However Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani says nothing of the type within the video. The 7-second clip is definitely a tiny snippet from his opening speech on the Doha Discussion board in 2017.
Marc Owen Jones, a professor of Center East research at Hamad bin Khalifa College in Doha, the capital of Qatar, confirmed that the emir touches briefly on Palestine within the broadly shared clip, however doesn’t make any threats associated to the present battle.
As an alternative the emir, in his remarks, urged the worldwide neighborhood to take extra steps to deal with the area’s refugee disaster, information shops reported on the time.
“The precise translation is: ‘The difficulty of Palestine, I’ll start by saying it’s a case of a folks uprooted from their lands, and displaced from their nation’,” Jones wrote in an e-mail.
Qatar’s authorities on Oct. 16 confirmed the clip dates to 2017 and is being misrepresented.
“That is yet one more case of a web-based disinformation in opposition to Qatar – such an announcement has by no means been made and by no means could be,” wrote the nation’s Worldwide Media Workplace in an e-mail. “Qatar doesn’t politicize its LNG provides or any financial funding.”
Qatar is likely one of the world’s high pure fuel producers. It managed the third largest pure fuel reserves and was the second largest exporter of liquified pure fuel, or LNG, in 2021, in keeping with the U.S. Vitality Data Administration.
What’s extra, the nation has been working lately to make use of its sizable assets to construct ties with different nations, not antagonize them, in keeping with specialists.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum evaluation at GasBuddy, a Boston-based firm that tracks fuel costs nationwide, pointed to a deal Qatar’s state power firm simply introduced to provide French power firm TotalEnergies with 3.5 million tons of pure fuel yearly for the following 27 years.
“Qatar has been securing funding since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed Europe to search out new sources of pure fuel and rapidly,” he wrote in an e-mail. “They’re making offers left and proper.”
— Philip Marcelo.
CLAIM: A video reveals a BBC Information report confirming Ukraine supplied weapons to Hamas.
THE FACTS: The broadly shared video clip is fabricated, officers with the BBC and Bellingcat, an investigative information web site that’s cited within the video because the supply, affirm.
The clip, which incorporates the BBC’s distinctive block-text brand, purports to point out a narrative from the outlet a few current report from Bellingcat on Ukraine offering arms to Hamas.
“Bellingcat: Ukrainian army offensive failure and HAMAS assault linked,” reads the textual content over the video, which has greater than 2,500 feedback and 110,000 views on the messaging service Telegram. “The Palestinians bought firearms, ammunition, drones and different weapons.”
However neither the BBC nor Bellingcat has reported any proof to assist the notion that Ukraine funneled arms to Hamas.
“We’ve reached no such conclusions or made any such claims,” Bellingcat wrote Oct. 10 in a submit on X that included screengrabs of the pretend report. “We’d prefer to stress that this can be a fabrication and needs to be handled accordingly.”
Eliot Higgins, the Amsterdam-based group’s founder, famous in a separate submit on X that the claims have been amplified by Russian social media customers.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a New York College professor briefly proven close to the tip of the video, additionally disputed the clip’s suggestion that he’s mentioned the U.S. may depart NATO if the arms claims show true.
“Completely pretend. By no means mentioned that,” the distinguished professor of danger engineering wrote in an e-mail.
Spokespersons for the BBC didn’t reply to emails in search of remark, however Shayan Sardarizadeh, a reporter with the group’s reality checking unit, confirmed in a submit on X that the video shouldn’t be actual.
Ukrainian officers have equally dismissed the notion that its nation’s arms have by some means discovered their option to Hamas. The nation’s army intelligence company, in an Oct. 9 submit on its official Fb web page, accused Russia of plotting a disinformation marketing campaign round these claims.
Consultants say there’s additionally no proof of Hamas making any claims about receiving arms from Ukraine, nor would it not make sense for Kyiv to supply them.
“I see no cause Ukraine would do that,” mentioned Michael O’Hanlon, director of international coverage analysis on the Brookings Establishment, a Washington assume tank. “Beginning with the truth that Kiev is within the enterprise of acquiring weapons and never giving them away.”
— Related Press writers Philip Marcelo in New York and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv contributed this report.
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CLAIM: Video of a younger actor being filmed mendacity in a pool of faux blood reveals propaganda being created to be used within the Israel-Hamas conflict.
THE FACTS: The video is behind-the-scenes footage from the making of “Empty Place,” a brief movie targeted on the story of Ahmad Manasra, a Palestinian who was arrested at age 13 in 2015 in relation to the stabbing of two Israelis.
Social media customers on either side of the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict are sharing the video, every falsely alleging that it’s proof the opposite group is creating propaganda about their very own.
Within the clip, a younger actor lies on a sidewalk coated in pretend blood, his proper leg bent backward, as a movie crew works round him. Different actors mill about dressed as troopers and in garb worn by many Orthodox Jewish males.
“See how Israelis are making pretend movies saying that Palestine Freedom Fighters killed kids,” reads one tweet that had obtained greater than 5,600 likes and greater than 4,400 shares as of Oct. 11.
An Instagram submit claimed the alternative, stating: “These terrorists are dressing up as JEWISH troopers to create pretend movies about Israeli troopers! Faking Propaganda!”
However neither allegation is appropriate. The video reveals footage from the making of the 2022 brief movie directed by Awni Eshtaiwe, a filmmaker based mostly within the West Financial institution. The scene being shot begins about 1 minute and 10 seconds into the roughly 2 minute movie.
Mohamad Awawdeh, a cinematographer listed within the movie’s credit as a digicam assistant, posted the behind-the-scenes footage to TikTok in April 2022, across the time the movie was launched. A caption on the submit, written in Arabic, explains that the scene being filmed within the video reveals Manasra being attacked. Awawdeh posted the identical footage to Instagram on June 30.
— Related Press author Melissa Goldin in New York contributed this report.
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CLAIM: Nimrod Aloni, a high common within the Israeli military, was captured by Hamas militants throughout a lethal incursion Oct. 7 into southern Israeli cities close to the Gaza Strip.
THE FACTS: There is no fact to this declare, a spokesperson for the Israeli army confirmed. Aloni was seen Oct. 8 at a gathering of high Israeli army officers.
The inaccurate declare that Aloni was one of many hostages taken by Hamas unfold broadly on-line after the militant group attacked Israel.
“Palestinian resistance fighters seize Israeli commander Nimrod Aloni together with dozens of different Israeli troopers because the resistance fighters attacked neighbouring occupied cities and Israeli test posts close to Gaza,” acknowledged one Instagram submit that obtained greater than 43,000 likes.
However Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli army’s chief army spokesman, informed reporters Oct. 7 that claims Aloni was captured are “not true.”
Aloni clearly seems 10 seconds right into a video posted to the Israeli army’s official YouTube channel of high officers discussing the conflict on Oct. 8. The date may be seen on a slide within the background. The army additionally revealed on-line 4 pictures from the assembly. The one on the decrease proper reveals Aloni on the far proper.
The Israeli military confirmed to The Related Press that Aloni is the person within the video and picture.
— Melissa Goldin.
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CLAIM: A video reveals Hamas fighters parachuting onto a sports activities subject earlier than attacking Israeli residents throughout the group’s shock Oct. 7 assault on Israel.
THE FACTS: Whereas Hamas did make use of paragliders to get some fighters throughout the border between Gaza and southern Israel, the footage of the sports activities subject reveals parachute jumpers in Cairo, Egypt, and has been on-line since at the least September.
The clip reveals folks strapped to multi-colored parachutes descending onto a crowded sports activities subject advanced crammed with kids and households, many in purple sports activities jerseys.
“Hamas paraglided amongst Israeli residents and proceeded to bloodbath them,” textual content on the video clip reads. One submit of the deceptive footage on TikTok was considered greater than 38,000 instances.
However this footage has been on-line since at the least Sept. 27, when it was posted to TikTok with the situation tag “Egypt.”
Particulars of the video additionally level to Egypt as the situation — an individual is sporting a blue shirt that reads “El Nasr SC” on the again, the title of a sporting membership in northeastern Cairo.
Photographs of the membership on Google Maps match the scene of the video — in addition to a number of different clips of the occasion from the identical TikTok consumer — with each exhibiting a shiny blue fence round a sporting floor subsequent to a paved space with inexperienced and blue plastic seats.
The parachuters land on a bigger soccer pitch surrounded by tall subject lights. The sector matches images posted to the membership’s Fb web page and photographs of its soccer staff’s matches, together with a particular purple constructing with a blue fence on high at one finish that may be seen within the TikTok clip at round 19 seconds.
Different TikTok customers shared footage of a parachuting comparable scene across the identical time, with “El Nasr” within the caption in Arabic.
The group of onlookers within the clip circulating on-line additionally doesn’t appear distressed by the arrival of the parachuters, as one may count on in the event that they had been an invading drive. In actual fact, many ladies and kids are seen operating in the direction of them, telephones in hand taking movies and images of the aerial show.
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CLAIM: Two movies present Russian President Vladimir Putin warning the U.S. to “keep away” from the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict.
THE FACTS: Bothvideos circulating on-line are months-old clips of Putin talking in regards to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, not the battle within the Center East, which have been miscaptioned in English.
Each movies present Putin talking in Russian, with false English captions saying he was warning the U.S. to chorus from serving to the Jewish state.
“America needs to Destroy israel as we destroy ukraine In previous,” the captions on one video state. “I’m warning America. Russia will assist palestine and america can do nothing.” One TikTok submit that shared the clip had obtained roughly 11,600 views as of Oct. 9.
A caption on one other video of Putin, filmed in a special location, equally reads: “I’m warning america to remain Away from palestine israel conflict.”
However the two clips lengthy predate the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict and make no point out of Israel in any respect.
The primary reveals Putin at a gathering of Russia’s Human Rights Council in December 2022, the place, amid discussions in regards to the conflict in Ukraine, he responded to a query in regards to the nation’s potential use of nuclear weapons, because the AP reported on the time. The footage was featured by a number of different newsoutlets with comparable translations.
Within the second, Putin is talking at a February 2023 occasion marking the eightieth anniversary of the World Struggle II Soviet victory over Nazi German forces within the battle of Stalingrad. In his remarks, he in contrast this risk to Germany’s then-recent resolution to provide Ukraine with tanks, the AP reported on the time. A number of media shops additionally featured the footage in comparable experiences.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters on Oct. 9 that Russia is “extraordinarily involved” by the “spiral of violence” in Israel. Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s deputy international minister and former ambassador to Israel and Egypt, informed the state Tass company Oct. 7 that Moscow has been in contact with “all events (of the battle), together with Arab international locations” and was urging for “a right away cease-fire and peace.”
— Melissa Goldin.
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That is a part of AP’s effort to deal with broadly shared misinformation, together with work with exterior corporations and organizations so as to add factual context to deceptive content material that’s circulating on-line. Study extra about fact-checking at AP.
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