Video shows tile removal tool, not Israeli method to destroy Hamas tunnels | Fact check
The claim: Video shows device used by Israeli soldiers to 'bury terrorists in their tunnels'
A Dec. 12 post (direct link, archive link) on X, formerly Twitter, shows a spinning device being lowered down a chimney.
"Another method by the IDF to bury terrorists in their tunnels,' read the video's caption.
The post was reposted more than 3,000 times in nine days. Similar posts were shared on Facebook.
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Our rating: False
The video predates the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. It shows a tool used to remove old tiles inside chimneys.
Video posted online before Israel-Hamas war
The Israeli military said it destroyed a "vast network of tunnels" beneath Gaza that included command and control positions, meeting rooms and hideout apartments for leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Paste BN reported in December.
Hamas has used the tunnels to transport supplies and carry out attacks, including the Oct. 7 surprise attack that brought about the current conflict.
The video, though, is not related to the latest war between Israel and Hamas. It appeared in several places online before the conflict began in early October. The video was posted on X and Reddit in August with captions that say it shows a tool used to remove old tile from inside chimneys. It was also posted on YouTube and TikTok in September with the caption, "Interesting device that gets used to remove old tile layers from chimneys."
A description of a similar tool sold by Rockford Chimney Supply, an internet-based chimney supply company, says it "spins and effectively breaks up clay flue tiles so they can be removed."
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"Many homeowners find that their chimney flue is too small to fit down the appropriate size stainless steel chimney liner," the company's website says. "In order to make room for the new efficient liner, breaking the clay flue tiles often resolves the issue."
While the video has nothing to do with the conflict, the Israeli military has been taking steps to destroy Hamas' network of tunnels, including by flooding them with seawater, The Wall Street Journal reported in December.
The social media user who shared the post could not be reached.
Our fact-check sources:
- Paste BN, Dec. 21, US backs United Nations Security Council resolution on Gaza; Israel destroys 'vast tunnel network': Live updates
- CBS News, Dec. 18, See inside the biggest Hamas tunnel Israel's military says it has found in Gaza
- MachinePix, Aug. 31, X post
- Jeezarchristron (Reddit), Aug. 30, Removing the old tile liner from a chimney
- Interesting Engineering (YouTube), Sept. 3, Device That Removes Old Tile Layer with Ease
- Interesting Engineering, Sept. 3, TikTok post
- Rockford Chimney Supply, accessed Dec. 22, Chimney Clay Tile Breaker
- The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 13, Israel Begins Pumping Seawater Into Hamas’s Gaza Tunnels
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