A viral video shared on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, purports to show an Israeli woman and her child being released from captivity in Gaza by Hamas.
Incredible scene: Hamas just released an Israeli woman and her child from captivity in Gaza.
The Palestinian resistance is demonstrating goodwill to the Israeli people while the Israeli government invents stories of beheaded babies and obliterates Gaza.pic.twitter.com/gXUOgHkr51
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) October 11, 2023
Verdict: False
The woman was temporarily captured and released but never taken into Gaza, according to an X post from Open Source Intelligence Monitor. The woman, identified as Avital Alajem, was given her neighbor’s two children.
Fact Check:
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel Thursday amid the country’s current conflict with Hamas, according to NBC News. Thus far, the war has claimed the lives of at least 1,300 Israelis and at least 1,400 people in Gaza, the outlet reported.
“Incredible scene: Hamas just released an Israeli woman and her child from captivity in Gaza. The Palestinian resistance is demonstrating goodwill to the Israeli people while the Israeli government invents stories of beheaded babies and obliterates Gaza,” the X post, viewed over one million times, purports. In the video, a woman can be seen walking toward a young child in an open expanse of land.
The claim that the video shows an Israeli woman and her child being released from captivity by Hamas in Gaza is false, however. The woman was temporarily captured and released but never taken to Gaza, according to the X post from Open Source Intelligence Monitor. The X post features the same video that appears in the original post, which makes the claim.
A subsequent X post from Open Source Intelligence Monitor identifies the woman as having the last name Eldajam. A keyword search reveals her last name is actually Alajem. (RELATED: Video Claiming To Show Israeli Missile Attack On Gaza Predates The Current Conflict)
Alajem spoke about her experience with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Alajem was hiding in the closet of her home with her friend when the terrorists entered and shot and killed him, she told Cooper. Alajem was then taken to her living room, where the terrorists gave her her neighbor, Adi Kaaplon’s sons, Eshel (4 months old) and Negev (4 years old). Alajem and the children were forced to walk to Gaza before they were released. In addition, Alajem told Cooper that Kaaplon is missing.
Alajem also recounted her experience in a TikTok video posted by Israel’s N12 News that has been shared on X.
The chilling testimony of Avital, an Israeli mother who was kidnapped with her neighbor Adi Kaplon-Vital and Adi’s children (Negev and Eshel). Hamas terrorists took Adi to Gaza gave Adi’s two children to Avital who is interviewed here.
Adi, the mother, is still held by Hamas in… pic.twitter.com/hF3BrxRX9n
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 9, 2023
Check Your Fact has contacted N12 News for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.