Post recycles, mischaracterizes old video of man confronting Israeli troops | Fact check
The claim: Video of falling Palestinian man is staged, from 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict
A Dec. 13 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows a man in a headscarf yelling at soldiers before falling to the ground and being carried to an ambulance by onlookers.
"The Palestinian Theater," reads the on-screen caption. "Grab you (sic) popcorn and enjoy the show!"
The post was liked more than 300 times in nine days. A similar post on X, formerly Twitter, was reposted more than 500 times in nine days.
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Our rating: False
There's no evidence the incident here is staged, and it also predates the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. It was shot in 2015 and shows a confrontation that happened in the West Bank, not the Gaza Strip.
Video shows 2015 encounter in West Bank, not Gaza Strip
The video shows a Palestinian man confronting Israeli troops in 2015 in the West Bank, where the soldiers had been clashing with Palestinian youths, The Independent reported. It did not happen during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Independent's report from Oct. 12, 2015, includes more footage of the encounter taken from a different angle. It says the man yelled at the troops and asked, "How do you fire your weapon on kids?" before ultimately falling backward to the ground.
He was carried to an ambulance by onlookers and later released from a hospital with minor bruises, the newspaper reported.
Fact check: Image of migrant caravan from 2018, not current US-Mexico border
Channel 4 News in the U.K. also posted a video of the encounter on Twitter, now X, on Oct. 12, 2015, noting the incident happened in Hebron, a city in the southern West Bank.
The footage has been misused over the years as a purported example of Palestinians feigning injury to gain media attention. Paste BN has debunked previous claims of Palestinian war casualties being staged.
The Instagram user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AFP, PolitiFact and Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- The Independent, Oct. 12, 2015, 65-year-old Palestinian man confronts armed Israeli troops
- Channel4News, Oct. 12, 2015, X post
- degree33, Nov. 25, 2018, Pallywood 2018 Oscar winning actor (YouTube)
- DavidYabo, Nov. 14, 2018, X post
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