By: Sam Doak
October 9 2023
No, this video does not show an Israeli child kidnapped by Palestinians
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A screenshot of a viral X post that claims to show a Hamas militant with a kidnapped girl.
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
This video was recorded prior to the recent fighting.
Claim ID 5fefc21b
Context
On October 7, 2023, militants affiliated with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched a large-scale offensive. In the hours that followed, Israeli border fences were breached, allowing combatants to enter nearby Jewish communities. As of October 8, Reuters reported that at least 700 Israelis have been killed since Saturday morning. Subsequent retaliatory strikes, targeting sites across Gaza, have caused over 400 deaths, according to the agency.
In the wake of the fighting, a large number of misattributed videos have circulated widely online. One such clip, which has been shared extensively on X, was posted with the caption, “Hamas terrorist with kidnapped Jewish baby girl in Gaza. The caption in Arabic reads “ A lost girl”. This is our enemy.” The footage, which shows a man with a young girl, has been reshared more than 1,400 times in the hours since it was uploaded to the platform.
While there have been numerous verified videos showing hostages taken by Palestinian combatants in recent days, Logically Facts has determined that this video has been misattributed.
In fact
By searching the caption included in the video, Logically Facts was able to determine that it was initially uploaded by a TikTok user on September 8, 2023.
Source: TikTok
While the user that uploaded this video appears to have deleted their account while Logically Facts was verifying this footage, a screenshot posted by the fact-checking outlet FakeReporter demonstrates this video was uploaded prior to the recent outbreak of violence in Israel.
There is no evidence that the child shown in the video has been kidnapped, either during the recent violence or at any other time.
The verdict
This video was first shared in TikTok on September 8, 2023, a month prior to the recent violence in Israel. This claim has therefore been marked as false.
