FACT CHECK: Did CNN Get Caught Faking A Hamas Attack While Reporting In Israel?
A viral video shared on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, claims CNN purportedly got caught faking a Hamas attack while reporting in Israel.
🔥🚨DEVELOPING: CNN got caught faking an attack from Hamas in Israel. pic.twitter.com/Tgi6BE5u2s
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) October 11, 2023
Verdict: False
The video has been edited. Fake audio stemming from the news and content organization “The Quartering” was added to the viral X clip.
Fact Check:
At least 22 U.S. citizens have been killed as a result of the current Hamas-Israel conflict, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a recent briefing, according to CNBC. Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel amid Jewish high holidays Saturday, The Guardian reported.
“DEVELOPING: CNN got caught faking an attack from Hamas in Israel,” the X video’s caption purports. A British man’s voice can be heard giving instructions such as “try and look nice and scared” to CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward and her team while they are on the ground reporting from Israel. The video has garnered over one million views as of writing.
The audio of the British man giving instructions to Ward and her team is fake, however, and stems from the news and content organization “The Quartering.” The same video shared on X has been uploaded to the organization’s verified YouTube channel, which describes itself as focusing on social commentary, including “the gaming industry, comics, and the world at large.”
Likewise, in the original clip shared via CNN’s website, Ward and her team describe the scene near the Israel-Gaza border, and at one point, shelter in a ditch from a “massive barrage of rockets” nearby. (RELATED: Video Claims To Show A Hamas Rocket Attack On Israel)
In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting CNN had gotten caught for faking a Hamas attack while they are on the ground reporting from Israel. The claim is neither repeated on the outlet’s website nor its verified social media accounts.
Check Your Fact has contacted a CNN spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.
