No, this video does not show Egyptian Bedouins driving to Gaza amid Israel-Hamas war

By: Rohith Gutta
October 20 2023

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Screenshots of the posts on Social Media (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

What's the claim?

A video has been shared on social media platforms with the claim: “Egyptian Bedouin Muslims their cars to the border with Gaza demanding that the borders be opened for Palestinians to participate in the Battle of Defla and the Al-Aqsa flood jihad against the Zionists.” The video has text in Arabic overlaid on it, which roughly translates to "Open your borders and prepare to support our brothers in Palestine, the Bedouins of Egypt, Ali’s sons, and prepare to support.” 

The video shows two clips edited together — the first video, from 0:00 to 0:05 seconds, shows a line of cars with the Egyptian flag traveling on a road in the middle of a desert. The second video, seen at 0:06-0:24 seconds, shows several cars crossing a desert with camels. The first video can be seen again from 0:25 to 0:47 seconds. This narrative has also been shared on X (formerly Twitter), an archive of which can be found here. Archives of similar posts can be found here and here. 

Screenshots of the post on Social Media (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the two video clips used in the post are old and unrelated to the current war.

What we found

First video

We searched the keyframes of the video through a reverse image search. The search yielded a video on YouTube from an account named "Muslim-Muslim" on August 3, 2021, with the caption “The Bedouins of Egypt occupy Libya” (translated from Arabic). The video has the TikTok handle @haniselamalajni and the same text in Arabic. Bedouins are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes found in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. 

We then combed through the videos posted by this account on TikTok. The user posted the same video on August 1, 2021, with various hashtags such as "#Bedouin Egypt" and "#2020." The account reshared this video on YouTube on August 3, 2021.

We can see the same convoy of cars with Egyptian flags traveling on the road. At one point, we can see a black car with the Egyptian flag coming off the road and raising dust. 

Comparison between the viral video and the 2021 video (Source: X/TikTok/Screenshots)

While the description of the YouTube video said it is Egyptian Bedouins going to Libya, there is no context provided in the TikTok video.

Second video

This part of the video shows camels and many cars traversing a desert. We have searched these keyframes through the reverse image search and also with various keywords. The search yielded a video on TikTok posted by @aymanahmedsalam1 on January 10, 2022. The video has text in Arabic, which roughly translates to: “Wadi Zalqa. Congratulations to Rabi Al-Muzaina”. Wadi Zalqa is a camel race that is held annually in Egypt’s Sinai desert between the two largest Bedouin tribes living in the Sinai – the Tarabin from the north and the Mazina from the south, according to Vice. The 2022 race was held on January 10.

We can see the white and brown camels running along with cars in the same landscape surrounded by undulating hills, as seen in the viral video. 

Comparison between the viral video and the 2022 video (Source: X/TikTok/Screenshots)

There are other videos of the race held in 2022. A user, Dahab tv, uploaded a video on YouTube on January 10, 2022, of the camel race from a close angle. We can see the brown camels and white cars traversing the desert surrounded by rocky, undulating mountains. 

The verdict

Two old videos have been edited together and shared with the claim that Egyptian Beoudins are going to the Gaza border to fight against Israel. Therefore, we have marked this claim false.

(With inputs from Rajini KG)