2017 photo from Iraq shared as recent picture of a Palestinian fleeing with his child amid Israel strikes - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 16, 2022
A photo is being shared on social media claiming it is a recent heart-breaking picture of a crying Palestinian fleeing with his child amid the Israel’s strikes on Palestine. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Recent picture of a Palestinian fleeing with his child following the Israel armed forces strikes on Palestine.
Fact: The photo shared in the post shows an old picture of a man carrying his child and running from an Islamic State-controlled part of Mosul towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during the battle in Mosul in March 2017. The photo shared in the post is old and has nothing to do with the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, the same photo was found in an article published by the ‘NBC News’ website on 06 March 2017. The description of the photo states, “A man cries as he carries his daughter while fleeing from an ISIS-controlled part of Mosul towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during a battle in Mosul, Iraq, on March 4, 2017”. ‘NBC News’ credited the photo to Goran Tomasevic, a journalist working for ‘Reuters’.
When we searched for further sources, we found the same photo published on the ‘Reuters Pictures’ website. Publishing the photo, Goran Tomasevic said, “Both screaming in terror, a father and the young daughter he cradled in his arm fled through the rubble-strewn streets of Wadi Hajar, transformed in a flash into a battleground between Islamic State fighters and Iraqi special forces. They and their neighbours – some wearing rubber sandals, some barefoot – were running from an IS counter-attack in this part of Mosul, dodging gunfire as the militants closed in. When they reached the special forces lines, males were ordered to lift their shirts to prove they weren’t suicide bombers. Some had to take off their clothes or show their belts, though not those carrying children. The father was so beside himself, so panicked. It was obvious because he had a short shirt on and was carrying a child that he wasn’t Islamic State. I believe they will both be taken to a refugee camp”.  So, it can be concluded that the photo shared in the post is old and is not related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
To sum it up, a 2017 photo related to the ‘Battle of Mosul’ in Iraq is shared as recent picture of a Palestinian fleeing with his child following the strikes from Israel.