No, viral video not of Hamas fighters descending on Israel using parachutes

By: Christian Haag
October 12 2023

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Online posts claiming that viral video shows Hamas fighters. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Context

A video of a few parachutists allegedly showing Hamas fighters landing in Israel is circulating online as the war between the Jewish state and the Palestinian militant body rages on. Sharing the video, one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, "Hamas paragliders in action," and another user wrote, "Hamas will curse the day it landed 1000 terrorists in Israel. No one will protect them from the wrath of Israel, neither Iran nor Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, Palestine or any other Arab nation. "

While the video has gone viral on X, the claim that it shows Hamas fighters in Israel is false.

In fact

Logically Facts came across the same video shared on TikTok by one 'Eslam Refaat.' The video was shared on the social media website on September 27, days before Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7. The TikTor user had also shared other visuals, which seemed to be taken during the same parachuting event captured in the viral video.

We could spot a red structure in a video uploaded by the TikTok user on September 28. The same structure can also be spotted in the viral clip and the TikTok video uploaded on September 27. The same buildings in the background can also be spotted in all videos.

Screenshots from the TikTok videos establish they were taken in Eqypt. (Source: TikTok/Modified by Logically Facts)

The picture on the left shows a screenshot from the first video— with the same visuals as the viral clip— that was uploaded on TikTok on September 27, and the picture on the right shows a still from the second video uploaded on September 28. The red boxes show the similarities between the buildings in the background, and the white one shows the red structure , thus confirming that the viral clip was filmed at the same location as the TikTok videos. The TikTok user had geographically tagged Masr Al Jadidah, a district in Cairo, Egypt, in the second video.

The claim about the viral clip allegedly showing Hamas fighters landing in Israel on parachuters has also been debunked by Shayan Sardarizadeh of BBC Verify. He also concluded that the video was shot in Egypt and predated the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

The verdict

The viral video does not show Hamas parachuters descending in Israel. The footage was captured before the current conflict began and reportedly shows a location in Egypt. Hence, we mark the claim false.