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
Claim
US grants emergency military aid of $8 billion to Israel in its conflict with Palestine.
Fact
No such military aid package, viral White House press release found to be altered.
Several social media users are circulating what appears to be a press release from the White House, claiming that the US has approved $8 billion in emergency military aid for Israel in its conflict with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas.
The death toll has surpassed 1,100 in Israel and Gaza, following Hamas’s large-scale surprise attacks on Israel on Saturday (October 7) that led to retaliatory strikes from Israel. Experts believe they are Hamas’s response to attempts at achieving “normalisation” of relations between Israel and other West Asian countries.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Also Read: These Videos Claiming To Show Hamas Shooting Down Israeli Helicopters Taken From Gaming Footage
Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “US $8 billion Israel”, which did not throw up any credible news reports of such an aid package.
We then looked up the White House’s official website, where in the “Presidential Actions” section of the “Briefing Room”, as seen in the viral circular, we did not find any statement on any aid to Israel on October 7, 2023.
A relevant keyword search using phrases from the viral statement led us to this press release, dated July 25, 2023, announcing $400 million in aid to Ukraine.
A closer look at the viral circular shows that the July 25 memo has been altered as the text is exactly the same, barring the sum ($400 million changed to $8 billion), the date (July 25 changed to October 7), the country (Ukraine changed to Israel), and the placement of US President Joe Biden’s name.
A further search led us to this NBC news report, stating that a doctored White House news release posted online falsely claimed that the Biden administration had authorised $8 billion in emergency aid to Israel on Saturday.
“The fact that it was faked didn’t stop it from being posted across the internet and rising to the top of Google search results,” read the report, published on October 8, 2023.
“The faked document appears to be an edited version of President Joe Biden’s July memo announcing $400 million in aid to Ukraine. Even though images of the faked document appeared on social media, it was never published on the White House website or in the government’s Federal Register of federal documents. After this article was first published, a White House representative confirmed that the document was fake,” stated the report.
Also Read: Video Claiming To Show Hamas Rocket Attack On Tel Aviv Airport Is Old And Unrelated
Conclusion
Doctored press release falsely claimed to state that the US granted $8 billion in aid to Israel in its conflict with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas.
Result: Altered Media
Sources
White House official website
The White House press release, July 25, 2023
NBC news report, October 8, 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.
