WebQoof Recap: Of Second Week of Fake News Around Israel-Hamas Conflict

Here are some of the viral pieces of misinformation that were falsely linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

WebQoof Recap | Here's a recap of some of the misleading posts that went viral this week.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/ The Quint)

While the Israel-Hamas war entered its second week, mis and disinformation surrounding the conflict has refused to come down on social media.

Here are some of the viral claims that we debunked this week.

1. Old Video From Syria Falsely Shared as 'Hamas Burning Israeli Soldiers Alive'

(Trigger warning: Disturbing visuals)

A video showing two uniformed men being hauled from a cage and then set on fire is going viral on social media to claim that it shows 'terrorists of Hamas burning alive two Israeli soldiers'.

(Note: We have refrained from adding any links to the viral video due to the distressing nature of the clip.)

This video is going viral on social media.

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

However, this video dates back to 2016 and shows the Islamic State (ISIS) group burning two Turkish soldiers alive.

Read our fact-check here.

2. Fact-Check: This Image of a Child Looking at an Explosion Is AI-Generated

An image of a toddler standing in what appears to be a building that is destroyed by an explosion is going viral on the internet.

Those sharing the image have captioned it, "This is what children in Gaza wake up to."

However, this image is not real and has been generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Read our fact-check here.

3. This Video Does Not Show Palestinians Carrying Indian Flag Amid War With Israel

A video showing several women dressed in burqa and carrying the Indian national flag is being shared, with users linking it to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

People shared the video with a caption in Hindi, which loosely translates to, "Muslim women and men in Palestine are coming out of Palestine using the tricolour because Israel is not killing these terrorists after seeing the tricolour.(sic)"

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

However, the video could be traced back to at least 31 August of this year, which predates the starting of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. It reportedly shows visuals from the Arbaeen walk, a pilgrimage.

Read our fact-check here.

4. Video From Ukraine Peddled as Israel Dropping White Phosphorus Bombs in Gaza

A video showing bright burning material falling from the sky is going viral to claim that it shows white phosphorus bombs being dropped by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip.

• This comes after Human Rights Watch claimed that Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on 10 and 11 October, respectively.

We found out that this video dates back to March of this year and shows the Russian forces reportedly using incendiary weapons in Ukraine.

Read our fact-check here.

5. No, Mumbai’s 2012 Azad Maidan Riots Did Not Break Out Over Support for Gaza

A set of photos, showing arson and rioting is being shared on social media, with a few paragraphs of text talking about the 2012 Azad Maidan riots in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The text mentions how on 11 August 2012, when the Indian National Congress (INC) had its government in the Centre as well as the state of Maharashtra, "Raza Academy had gathered over five lakh Muslims to show support for the Gaza strip."

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

However, this claim is misleading. An estimated 50,000 people had gathered at Mumbai's Azad Maidan to protest against the 2012 Assam riots.

Read our fact-check here.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)