FACT CHECK: Video Claims To Show Journalist Standing Next To Hamas Launching Rockets

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A video shared on X, formerly Twitter, claims to show a journalist standing next to a Hamas rocket launch site.

Verdict: False

The video shows a Syrian journalist near Syrian rebels launching rockets at Syrian government forces.

Fact Check:

Dozens of journalists, most of them Palestinian, have died in the recent Israeli-Hamas conflict, according to NPR. Press advocates have said it is the deadliest war for journalists in 30 years, the outlet reported.

Social media users have been sharing a video of a journalist standing next to militants firing rockets. One user wrote, “Peaceful journalist documenting peaceful Hamas terrorists launching rockets toward Israeli civilians. Next time you see in the news that a journalist in Gaza died you should know that he’s not innocent.”

This claim, however, is false. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video was posted to X by Syrian journalist Jamil Alhassan.

“In response to the frequent targeting of civilian neighborhoods, markets, and schools in the city of Idlib, Al-Fateh Al-Mubin operations target military barracks in Nubl and Al-Zahraa in the Aleppo countryside,” Alhassan tweeted. (RELATED: Did Israeli Newspaper Claim Israelis Made Millions From Shares Ahead Of Oct. 7 Hamas Attack?)

This claim was also debunked by BBC Verify reporter Shayan Sardarizadeh, who also pointed to Alhassan’s tweet. The Syrian government bombarded parts of Idlib, which remains under rebel control, and reportedly killed six civilians on Dec. 9, according to France 24.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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