Amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, a video showing children confined in a cage is circulating, with claims that it portrays Israeli children held captive by Hamas terrorists. Another image depicting two children suspended against a wall is also being circulated, accompanied by similar assertions of Hamas terrorists torturing Israeli children. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals depicting atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against children amid ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
Fact: These visuals are dated and have no connection to the current conflict. The video depicting children held captive in a cage was posted on social media a few days prior to Hamas attack on Israel. The user who uploaded the video has claimed that children shown in the video are his relatives and they were held captive for entertainment purposes. Whereas the image showing children suspended against a wall has been circulating on the internet since 2014. However, there have been reports of children being burned & killed in the ongoing conflict. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On 7 October 2023, the militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Israelis. Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, claimed that this assault was in retaliation for Israel’s actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque. In response, Israel declared a state of war, reasserted control over the border, and reported casualties of around 1,500 Hamas fighters.
News agencies have reported that Hamas has kidnapped children and threatened to kill the hostages. The Twitter handle of the Israel PM also tweeted photos showing babies who were allegedly murdered and burned by the Hamas terrorists. Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces told media that dismembered bodies of children were found in the settlement of Kfar Aza. It is in this context the viral video is being shared attributing it to the ongoing conflict. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the video predates the recent conflict and is unrelated to the current situation.
The viral video features a TikTok watermark and is attributed to the user with the handle ‘@user6903068251281.’ This video was originally uploaded on this account but has since been removed. Nevertheless, numerous fact-checkers and news organizations have posted several screenshots that indicate the date of the original TikTok video upload (here, here & here). A screenshot from 9 October 2023 reveals that the video was posted at least four days prior to the onset of Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Subsequently, the TikTok user in question uploaded another video to address the viral cage video. In this follow-up video, the user clarified that the children featured in the original video are not Israeli but rather his relatives. He also explained that the video had been posted on TikTok prior to the beginning of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. While we were unable to confirm the video’s context independently, its presence on the internet proves that it is unrelated to the current conflict.
This image, too, is significantly older and bears no connection to the ongoing conflict. A reverse image search of this widely circulated photograph led us to multiple blogs that had shared the same image as far back as 2014 (here & here).
These blogs associated the image with Hamas terrorists allegedly using children as human shields to shield themselves from IDF airstrikes. While we were unable to independently verify the image’s context, its consistent presence on the internet serves as compelling evidence that it is not linked to the present conflict.
To sum it up, multiple old visuals are being shared attributing them to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
