(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.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 ,, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)