Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
A victim of Israel’s “mowing the grass” strategy, referring to its military operations in Gaza.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the photo, which led to this Facebook plea for financial help, dated December 19, 2019. “The ten-year-old child Mahmoud Hassan Ali from #Banyas village #Deir_Al-Jard (a student in the third grade of primary school) suffered a few days ago an electric shock /moderate stress / which led to the amputation of his upper and lower limbs and is now in Banyas National Hospital receiving treatment,” read the post, translated from Arabic.
Similar posts from the same date can be seen here and here, confirming that the viral image is not related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Tal Hagin, a media analyst who focuses on the Israeli and Palestinian Conflict), stated on X that the viral photo is not recent nor is it from Gaza and that it shows a child named Mahmoud Hassan Ali from Syria. Hagin shared other photos of the child too. Facebook posts sharing the same photos can be seen here and here from January 2021, confirming that the viral photo is of a child amputee from Baniyas in Syria.
Also Read: Man Warning Muslims In Viral Video Is Not The New Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
Result: False
Sources
Facebook post, December 19, 2019
X post, Tal Hagin, December 13, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
