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
Israeli soldiers stab and torture Palestinian civilians.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to a clearer and longer version of the video on Youtube, dated January 2, 2013, uploaded by Daraa and Houran News. “The Shabiha squad is slaughtering civilians with knives,” read the headline, translated from Arabic. The viral excerpt can be seen from 02:08 mark.
A relevant keyword search led us to this Al Arabiya news report, dated January 2, 2013, sharing a screengrab of the viral video, stating, “An internet video posted by Syrian rebels appears to show fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stabbing two men to death and stoning them with concrete blocks in a summary execution lasting several minutes.”
The report said that Al Arabiya could not verify the provenance of the footage or the identity of the perpetrators and their victims, adding that it was not clear where or when it was filmed.
“The video was posted on YouTube by the media office of the Damascus-based rebel First Brigade. The office said it had been sourced from a captured member of the ‘shabbiha’, a pro-government militia made up mainly of members of Syria’s minority Alawite sect,” read the report. A similar report can be seen here, confirming that the viral video is not related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Result: False
Sources
Youtube video, January 2, 2013
Al Arabiya report, January 2, 2013
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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.
