Images of Hamas' attack on Israel have been flooding social media since Saturday. While many of the photos and videos are authentic, others have been backdated or taken out of context.
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- LIVE - Response, death toll, political reactions: the aftermath of Hamas' offensive against Israel
Paragliding descent
Hamas terrorists landed in Israel with the help of paragliders. This can be seen in the videos that emerged after the massacre of 260 civilians who were participating in a rave party in the middle of the desert. Among the sequences broadcast on X, we find this one:
In reality, these images were not filmed in Israel and the individuals on the paragliders are not Hamas terrorists. The video is actually from Egypt. While the video is undated, BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh reports on X that it was published in September, a month before Hamas' attack on Israel. And the imposing building is none other than the Cairo Military Academy.
Rockets fired in the night
In another video viewed nearly three million times on X, an impressive salvo of rockets can be seen rising into the sky. But contrary to what the user says in the caption, the footage does not show projectiles fired by Hamas in the direction of Israel last weekend. The footage was actually filmed during the war in Syria, and was shared online in February 2020.
Children locked in cages
The video is chilling: young children are locked up, crammed into cages. The very first video, posted on TikTok and since deleted, was shared six days ago without any context, date or reference to Hamas and the Gaza Strip... That is, before the attack perpetrated by Hamas. Therefore, they cannot be children who are among the hostages captured by the terrorist group.
Facade of a building with Palestinian flags
Did residents of Sevran, in Seine-Saint-Denis, really hang Palestinian flags in their windows? A photo relayed on X shows multiple Palestinian flags flying on the façade of a building. This image is widely shared, including by political figures such as the RN Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional councillor, Benoît Auguste or the former Minister for European Affairs, Noëlle Lenoir. While this is an authentic image, it has nothing to do with recent events in Israel.
On X, there are similar images shared in May 2021. At the time, clashes between Hamas and Israeli forces lasted about <> days before a ceasefire was declared.
A community leader in Sevran denounced "fake news" by publishing photos of the façade on Monday, October 9, which was empty of Palestinian flags.
Images of video games
Another source of manipulation is that of images taken from video games. Footage shows helicopters purporting to be Israeli being shot down by Palestinians. A pure invention, since it is an image from a military simulation video game. The video has since been flagged by netizens on X. Below the video, the following statement now appears: "The video is from the video game Arma III. These are not images of real life."
A diversion that has several precedents, especially during the war in Ukraine.