The image of a person wrapped in a white cloth, dressed like a corpse while using their phone is viral online with the false claim that it shows people in Gaza faking their deaths to inflate the Palestinian death toll in the region.
BOOM found that the claims are false and the photo is from a Halloween party in Thailand in 2022 and is unrelated to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 7,000 Palestinians have died following the conflict between Islamist militant group Hamas and Israel which began on October 7. However, several officials including United States President Joe Biden have cast doubts about the figures released by the Palestinians, while explaining that the Ministry is operated by Hamas. In response to this, the ministry released a 212-page document that allegedly carried the name, age, and sex of the deceased 6,747 people who have been officially identified.
Amid this, a photo supposedly showing a corpse using their phone is being shared online to claim that Palestinians are faking their deaths amid the conflict. The picture is viral on X with the caption, "Allah's Miracle! A “corpse” in Gaza texting on his phone."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
A verified account on X, @TheMossadIL shared the image with the caption, "When the "Gaza Ministry of Health" tells you how many casualties there are..."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the photo is from an October 2022 Halloween party in Thailand and is unrelated to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
We ran a reverse image search of the viral photo on Google and found that it was shared several times as a meme before the conflict began.
Click here and here to view.
We also found that a Thailand-based news outlet 'Morning News' had shared the image on October 29, 2022 along with three other images of children dressed as ghosts. The caption detailed how the images showed two children dressed for Halloween by their mother.
A part of the caption read, "Recently, another mother with a very creative idea. (She) dressed her child as a ghost and put a frame to hold an incense pot. The other one is a ghost with a logo in a paper box."
The images were attributed to a user 'Surattana Sawadkit' and the last image in the post was an exact match to the viral photo.
Click here to view.
We then looked up Surattana Sawadkit's Facebook page and found that she had pinned a post on her wall carrying the same images. The caption, roughly translated from Thai to English reads, "A small event. Easy and comfortable dress. No need for much. All are friendly people." The post also carried hashtags such as #Halloween and #Halloweenkidsfancy.