By: Sam Doak
October 12 2023
Video does not show Palestinians faking a funeral amid conflict with Israel
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
This video was filmed in 2020. It shows a group of people in Jordan reacting to COVID-19 restrictions.
Claim ID 4c0f8cb2
Context
On October 7, Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas launched a multi-faceted assault on Israeli-held territory. As of October 12, the reported death toll in Israel has reached 1,200, composed mainly of civilians. A further 1,100 have reportedly been killed in airstrikes conducted by Israeli forces in the densely populated Gaza Strip.
Amid ongoing violence in Gaza, a video is circulating widely that some have baselessly claimed proves Palestinians are faking casualties. The video, filmed from a distance, shows a group of people carrying what appears to be a body on a stretcher. As a siren sounds, they put down the stretcher and run away. The individual formerly being carried proceeds to get up from the ground and leave the scene.
On October 11, a verified X user with over 110,000 followers shared this video with the caption, “Palestinians with the guidance of @AlJazeera were shooting a fake video for the world that they are carrying a boy for funeral ki1led by #Israel . Watch the video till the end, once the siren plays Palestinians carrying a boy run away & the dead boy wakes up and runs towards the shelter.” Recently, this video has been shared alongside similar narratives on TikTok.
Despite a significant number of social media users appearing to believe this video shows Palestinians faking a funeral during the ongoing conflict, Logically Facts has determined that this is not the case.
In fact
A Google search reveals that this video has previously received significant media attention. A Reuters article published on May 13, 2021, states that it was falsely stated to show a “Fake funeral for the TV & media by Hammas” in the context of an escalation of violence around this time.
As Reuters notes, this video can be traced to March 2020, when Jordanian social media users widely shared it. According to the news organization, it shows Jordanians responding to restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posting on X at the time, the Arabic-language news outlet 24.ae captioned the clip, “Funny things #كورونا ... Young Jordanian men invented a trick to get out of the house, so they held a fake funeral for their friend.. This is what happened to them as soon as they heard sirens.” Other outlets, including Orient and Roya News, provided similar explanations at the time.
The verdict
This video is from 2020 and shows Jordanians responding to COVID-19 restrictions. It was not filmed amid the recent fighting in Israel and Gaza. This claim has, therefore, been marked as false.