FACT CHECK: Viral X Image Does Not Show Elderly Woman Targeted By Israel Amid Conflict With Hamas

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A viral image shared on X purports to show an elderly woman targeted by Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.

Verdict: False

The claim is false. The image originally appears in a February 2024 report from the Syria Civil Defense and shows an elderly Syrian woman who had been wounded by “regime forces.”

Fact Check:

During a May 31 speech, President Joe Biden announced Israel has offered a “three-part plan” to permanently end its war with Gaza, according to NBC News. The plan involves Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza as well as a release of all the hostages that are being held by Hamas, the outlet reported.

The X image, viewed over 8,000 times, purports to show an elderly woman targeted by Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. In the photo, the woman can be seen wearing bandages on her face and visible hand. The image is simply captioned, “Gaza” followed by broken heart and Palestinian flag emojis.

The claim is false, however. The image originally appears in a February 2024 report from the Syria Civil Defense and shows an elderly Syrian woman who’d been wounded by “regime forces.”

“Regime forces launched deadly attacks on northwestern Syria on the evening of Tuesday, February 20, targeting civilian homes in the village of Afes, east of Idlib, with artillery shelling, and a civilian car in the village of Taqad, west of Aleppo, with a heat-guided missile, which led to the death of a woman and the wounding of four civilians,” the report begins.

“A woman was killed, and her sister and their elderly mother were seriously injured, by regime forces artillery shelling that targeted civilian homes in the village of Afes, east of Idlib, on the evening of Tuesday, February 20,” it continues.

Likewise, the image does not appear in any recent credible news reports about the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. In fact, the opposite is true. Misbar also reported the image originally appeared in the February 2024 Syria Civil Defense report. Additionally, the image is neither featured on the website for Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates nor on its verified X account. (RELATED: Do These Images Show US-Made Explosives Found In Gaza?)

Check Your Fact has contacted Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates for comment regarding the image and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

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