A viral post shared on X, formerly Twitter, claims Hamas killed a legendary Israel Defense Forces (IDF) named “Shafas Lavier.”

BREAKING: Hamas killed the most famous IDF sniper.

A Hamas new recruit shot Captain ‘Shafas Lavier’, the deadliest sniper in the Israeli Army and commander of the Golan Brigade’s sniper unit, straight into his bullseye.

“God guided the bullet to even out divine justice”. pic.twitter.com/1ZDTTUHrEl

— Make Peace Now; alternative news (@AlternatNews) January 22, 2024

Verdict: False

There is no evidence that a soldier named Shafas Lavier was killed. There are also no sniper units, according to the IDF.

Fact Check:

The IDF suffered its deadliest day in its invasion of the Gaza Strip, with more than 20 troops killed in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, according to CNN. 219 Israeli troops have so far died in the invasion, which occurred after Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, the outlet reported.

Social media users have been sharing claims that Hamas killed an Israeli sniper named Shafas Lavier. One user wrote,” BREAKING: Hamas killed the most famous IDF sniper.A Hamas new recruit shot Captain ‘Shafas Lavier’, the deadliest sniper in the Israeli Army and commander of the Golan Brigade’s sniper unit, straight into his bullseye.”

However, there is no evidence that this occurred. If this had occurred, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. A wider internet search also did not yield any results beyond unsourced social media posts.

An IDF spokesperson directed Check Your Fact to the list of killed Israeli troops, which is published by the IDF. Check Your Fact could not find any captain named Shafas Lavier or any soldiers by that name.

“Do note that there is no such thing as a sniper unit,” the IDF spokesperson said. (RELATED: TikTok Video Falsely Claims U.S. Troops Have Landed On Israeli Beaches)

Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact also found that the image is from October 2023. It shows Israeli troops resting in Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 13, according to the image description published by The Washington Post.

Check Your Fact has previously debunked claims about Hamas killing or capturing Israeli snipers.