A video shared on Facebook claims to show Israeli children in cages after being captured by Hamas.
Verdict: False
The video appears to originate days before the Oct. 7 attack.
Fact Check:
Hamas has taken dozens of people hostage since they launched an assault on Israel’s southern border, according to CNN. Among them are children, civilians and soldiers, the outlet reported.
The Facebook video claims to show Israeli children being held captive in cages by Palestinian militants. “Arabs show trophies. I am sure that these Jewish children will be sold profitably on slave markets in the Middle East, of which there are a huge number,” the caption reads.
However, the video appears to originate from before the Oct. 7 attack. X account @FakeReporter, which describes itself as fighting disinformation and hate speech, reported that the account that posted the video did so four days before the actual attack.
ATTENTION: The video which claims to show the abducted Israeli kids in cages in Gaza is FALSE. These are NOT Israeli children, and the video was posted more than four days ago – before the current war.
Please do not spread this false and harmful video.Follow us for more… pic.twitter.com/KmiVg5SxEW
— פייק ריפורטר | FakeReporter (@FakeReporter) October 8, 2023
“ATTENTION: The video which claims to show the abducted Israeli kids in cages in Gaza is FALSE. These are NOT Israeli children, and the video was posted more than four days ago – before the current war. Please do not spread this false and harmful video,” the account tweeted.
Some social media posts are claiming that it shows Palestinian children being taken into cages and linked to this YouTube video. The video has since been taken down, though Check Your Fact found an archived version shows its from January 2020. While the video itself has not been archived, the preview function showing the video has.
A review by Check Your Fact did not find any scenes matching the original video, though the quality of the video’s preview function means we cannot definitively rule out that this video may be the original source.
Screenshot/YouTube/Wayback Machine
Note: Check Your Fact is working to debunk false and misleading claims from the recent event. Please send tips to [email protected].