An old video of a father teaching his daughter to laugh every time she hears an explosion is viral online with the false claim that the video is recent and shows a Palestinian father protecting his daughter during an Israeli air strike. BOOM found that the video is from February 2020 and was shot in Syria.
On October 7, Islamist militant group Hamas launched an assault into Israel from Gaza, leading to retaliatory strikes from Israel. The conflict, that has lasted for more than 20 days so far, has claimed the lives of 7,028 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis. US President Joe Biden along with other officials expressed their lack of confidence in the Palestinian death figures released by the Hamas-operated Health Ministry in Gaza. The Ministry in turn responded by sending a 212-page document that allegedly carried details such as the name, age, sex, and official identification of the 6,747 Palestinians that were confirmed dead by Palestinian officials. This list does not include the 281 deceased that are yet to be identified.
The 20-second video shows a father speaking to his daughter while recording. The two begin laughing as soon as an explosion is heard in the background. A verified account on X, @Censored Man, shared the clip with the caption, "🇵🇸🇮🇱 A Palestinian father tells his daughter to laugh every time she hears an Israeli airstrike so that she doesn’t get scared."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
The post is also circulating on Facebook with similar captions.
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video is from Syria in February 2020 and is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
We ran a keyword search on Google using 'Father tells daughter to laugh during bombing' and found several news reports from February 2020. Guardian News had reported the incident in this YouTube video shared on February 18 with the title 'Syrian father teaches daughter to cope with bombs through laughter'
The description detailed how the father, Abdullah Mohammad, taught his three-year-old daughter Salwa to laugh during the explosions as part of a game. The video also carries a translation of their conversation. Mohammad first asks Salwa whether the noise would be a jet or an explosion. To this, Salwa replies and says, "A bomb. When it comes, we will laugh."
Similar reports by Associated Press and NBC News can be seen here and here.
The reports explained how Mohammad came up with the idea. According to him, Salwa was scared when kids were bursting firecrackers during Eid-al-Fitr, which is when he took her out and showed her how the kids were playing and laughing. He then used the same technique to make Salwa laugh during bombings in their area.
In an interview with Al Jazeera in Februaru 2020, Mohammad said, "These bomb attacks happen frequently. For 9 years, we have been facing bombing and air attacks; this has become a daily routine for us." According to the report, a Turkish government representative got in touch with Mohammad's family after the video went viral and helped them reach Antakya, Turkey.
Syria has grappled with war for nearly 12 years, when peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule first began in the country in 2011. With Russia and Iran backing the government and the rebels receiving support from Turkey, the crisis has also witnessed involvement from the US, UK, and France, among several others in the form of diplomacy and military action. The Syrian war has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced more than 14 million out of their homes since it began.