Old, Unrelated Clip Peddled as Israeli Soldiers Recently Killing Palestinians

The video could be traced back to 2013, and reportedly shows pro-Assad rebels killing two people in Syria.

Fact-Check | The video dates back to 2013 and is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

(Trigger Warning: Disturbing visuals)

A video showing several people stabbing two men, who can be seen standing facing the wall, is being shared on the internet with users linking the clip to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

What have users said?: An X (formerly Twitter) handle shared the video with a caption that said, "Occupying Israeli soldiers sadistically stab and torture Palestinian civilians! Zionists are more dangerous than the devil!."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

We received a query about the viral video on our WhatsApp tipline too. Archives of longer versions of the claim can be found here, here, and here.

Are these claims true?: The video could be traced back to at least January 2013 and is unrelated to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

• It reportedly shows pro-Bashar al-Assad rebels brutally killing two people in Syria.

How did we find that out?: Using the help of InVID, a video verification tool, we divided the video into several keyframes and performed a reverse image search on some of them.

• This led us to a report published in Haksoz Haber, a Turkish news website, that carried a similar visual from the viral video.

• The report was published on 2 January 2013 and said that the video showed Shabiha group brutally killing people. It also mentioned that the group is known to be loyal to Assad.

• It further said that the group repeatedly stabbed the victims and crushed their bloodied bodies with stones.

The screenshot shows a translated version of the report.

(Source: Haksoz Haber/Screenshot)

Other sources: We performed a keyword search on Google and came across a report published on Al Arabiya that carried several visuals from the viral video.

• It mentioned that pro-Assad rebels stabbed two men then stoned them to death with concrete blocks.

• The report said that the video was first shared on YouTube by the media office of the Damascus-based rebel First Brigade.

• However, it also mentioned that the origin of the video or the identity of the attackers and victims could not be verified.

The report was published on 2 January 2013.

(Source: Al Arabiya/Screenshot)

• Taking hints from the reports above, Team WebQoof performed a keyword search in Arabic on YouTube and found the longer version of the viral video.

• The video was uploaded on 2 January 2013 on an unverified channel named 'Daraa and Houran News'.

• Its title when translated to English said, "The Shabiha leak is slaughtering civilians with knives +18."

• At around the 2:10 mark, one can see the same visuals as the viral video playing.

News report: Reuters, too, had published a report on the viral video saying that the video showed pro-Assad rebels brutally killing two men in Syria.

• The news organisation also pointed out that they were not able to verify the location or the date of the footage.

• The report said that one of the perpetrators in the video was heard saying, "For God's eyes and your Lord, O Bashar," suggesting that the actions were carried out in Assad's name.

Conclusion: While The Quint could not independently verify the location, context, or the date of the video, it is clear that the video is old and unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

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