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
Video shows Israeli forces shooting inside Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital.
The Israeli military had reportedly raided Gaza’s main hospital in a “targeted operation against Hamas”. Israel claimed that its forces found evidence that Hamas uses hospitals to store explosives and weapons for terror activities.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker noticed that several users pointed out in the comments that the video is at least 10 years old and from a hospital in Egypt.
Taking a cue from this we ran a relevant keyword search, which led us to a clearer version of the viral video as part of a news report in Arabic, uploaded on Youtube by Cairo-based Rassd network, dated August 16, 2013, stating there was heavy shooting at detainees at Rabaa Hospital on the day of the massacre.
A further search led us to a fact-check report by Al Hurra, a US government-owned Arabic-language media outlet, debunking the viral video and reaffirming that it is a 2013 video from Egypt. “The accompanying commentary stated that intense gunfire was fired at detainees at Rabaa Hospital on the day of the massacre,” read the report.
We learnt that on August 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces forcefully dispersed two sit-ins by supporters of the late Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in Nahda and Rabaa al-Adawiya squares, in what was later described as one of the darkest and deadliest days in the country’s modern history, when hundreds were indiscriminately killed during protests.
“Egyptian forces used armoured vehicles and bulldozers, in addition to ground troops and snipers on rooftops carrying live ammunition, to attack the square from all sides and close off safe exits, according to witnesses and human rights organisations,” read an Al Jazeera report.
“Three years on from the dramatic dispersal of the sit-in in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square by Egyptian army and security forces, memories of the day remain as harrowing as ever for those who witnessed the events, especially the doctors working in Rabaa Field Hospital…Human Rights Watch observer Omar Shakir says that their research team was there when security forces fired on the Rabaa hospital, then overtook the building, ordered medical personnel, families, and the injured out of the hospital, and that structure was later set ablaze,” read another Al Jazeera report on the massacre, dated August 17, 2016, featuring footage and interviews with survivors, medical staff and journalists.
Also Read: Old Photo From Yemen Falsely Shared As Palestinian Boy Dragging Dead Sister’s Body
Result: False
Sources
Youtube video, Rassd network, August 16, 2023
Al Hurra report
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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.
