A video from September this year of a man speaking to a toddler in Arabic in Hebron, West Bank, is being shared with a false claim that it is from Gaza showing a Jewish child being held captive by Hamas militants.
On October 7, 2023, the Islamic militant group Hamas launched a large-scale assault on Israeli forces as a part of their 'Al-Aqsa Storm' operation. Hamas had breached a fortified border fence, killing and capturing both Israeli soldiers and civilians. The Islamic militant group had also take Israeli women and children hostage after the attack. Subsequent retaliatory Israeli airstrikes in Gaza has created a humanitarian crisis with hospitals running out of medical supplies and the region facing shortage of clean water, food, fuel and electricity.
The viral video was posted by the X (formerly Twitter) handle Rosy (@rose_k01) with the caption, "Heartbbreaking, Hamas terrorist with a kidnapped Jewish baby girl in Gaza. These BARBARIANS are laughing & The caption in Arabic reads “ A lost girl” with Laughing Emojis #Isreal #IsraelUnderAttack #IStandWithIsrael #TelAviv #Gaza #IsraelPalestineWar #HamasTerrorists"
BOOM has previously fact-checked misinformation posted by this verified X handle.
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The same video has been viral on X with the same false claim. Marc Zell (@GOPIsrael) chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, had posted the same video with the caption, "Hamas terrorist with kidnapped Jewish baby girl in Gaza. The caption in Arabic reads “ A lost girl”. This is our enemy."
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The same is also being shared in Hindi with the same false claim. The caption posted by the handle (@ajaychauhan41) when translated reads, "Hamas terrorists with abducted Israeli Jewish girl in Gaza. The caption in Arabic reads, "A lost girl". This is our enemy."
(In Hindi - गाजा में अपहृत इजरायली यहूदी बच्ची के साथ हमास आतंकवादी। अरबी में कैप्शन में लिखा है, "एक खोई हुई लड़की"। ये हमारा दुश्मन है.)
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video predates the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas that began on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas attack. The viral video was posted by a Tik Tok account on September 8, 2023, which states that the video was shot in the Palestinian city of Hebron in the West Bank, whereas the Hamas has taken hostages inside the Gaza strip.
Taking a hint from the replies stating that the video is from September, we ran a reverse image search and found that it was previously posted on Tik Tok on September 8, 2023. The now deleted Tik Tok video was posted by the account @izzeddin_masalma.
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The same individual - Izzeddin Masalma has an account on Instagram, and posted about the viral video he had uploaded on Tik Tok last month dismissing the false claim that it is a recent video from Gaza of a Jewish toddler being held captive by Hamas. He states that he had shot the video in the Palestinian city of Hebron in September which he had posted on Tik Tok, and added that the toddler in the video is an Arab and not Jewish.
Masalma posted the clarification on his Instagram account on October 9, 2023.
The caption reads, "Peace be upon you guys, I had a misunderstanding yesterday because of this video, thinking that I am a terrorist, and this girl is Israeli, the girl is Arab, and the video is spontaneous, and the video was filmed in Hebron a month ago, not currently, and the video was already trending. There was a misunderstanding, and I had an attack on Instagram and Tiktok, a major Israeli attack, and my account was deleted. On Tiktok, all this is due to the understanding that the video is old. I wanted to make this clear, and I hope you reach this point. Peace be upon you."
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BOOM has reached out to Izzeddin Masalma, the article will be updated upon receiving a response.
Fatabyyano, a fact checking organisation, previously debunked the same video on October 16, 2023, when it was being shared with the same claim in Arabic.
