FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show Hamas Rockets In A Gaza Residential Area?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A video shared on Facebook allegedly shows Hamas rockets being transported in a Gaza residential area.

Verdict: False

The footage dates back to 2018. It appears to show a truck carrying weapons in a neighborhood in northern Israel, not the Gaza Strip.

Fact Check:

Conflict broke out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas starting May 10, leaving over 250 dead before a ceasefire went into effect early May 21, the Associated Press reported. (RELATED: Does This Video Show Palestinian Militants Staging A Funeral?)

Amid the conflict, social media users shared a video of a truck carrying what appear to be missiles, with one such Facebook user alleging the video shows “Hamas missiles being parked” on a residential street in Gaza. That is, however, not the case.

Through a reverse image search of key frames, Check Your Fact found the video published on Facebook in November 2018, years before the current conflict broke out. Both videos feature the same “amar” watermark. The translated caption of the 2018 version indicates the footage was taken in Abu Snan, a town in northern Israel.

“Trucks with ‘missiles’ were wrong on their way and entered the village of Abu Sanan in the north,” the translated caption reads.

The northern Israeli town of Abu Snan does not border Gaza, according to Google Maps. Journalist Alexander McKeever said on Twitter that he identified the specific street in Abu Snan where the footage was taken.

An Israeli news outlet published a video featuring a similar green truck carrying weapons on November 24, 2018, a day before the footage in question was shared on Facebook that year. Check Your Fact could not independently verify whether the truck is the same as the one in the Facebook video.

Misleading claims related to this month’s Israel-Hamas conflict have circulated widely on social media platforms, according to The New York Times. Check Your Fact has debunked several videos and images allegedly showing the impact of the conflict, such as footage social media users falsely claimed to show Palestinian militants staging a funeral.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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