Video from 2023 Syria earthquake shared as child rescued from rubble in Gaza

By: Rajini KG
October 17 2023

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Screenshot of videos circulating online. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

(Disclaimer: Description of distressing visuals)

Context

A video of a child being rescued alive from rubble is circulating on social media, claiming it was captured during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. An X user shared the video (archive here) with the claim that the baby was rescued from rubble after Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip. The same video was shared on Facebook. The archive can be found here and here.

Screenshot of videos circulating online. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is false. The video is from the Syria earthquake that hit in February 2023, not from Gaza, Palestine.

Here are the facts

A Google reverse image search showed that the video predates the current Israel and Palestine conflict. The Telegraph posted the same video on its YouTube channel on February 13, 2023, with the title “Syria survivor: girl dies saving baby sister in earthquake.” The video’s description states that the infant was discovered alive under the rubble after the earthquake struck. Reuters also published the same video on February 13, 2023. Two earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023, in which more than 47,000 casualties were recorded, and many buildings were damaged, Reuters reported. (Note: Logically Facts has blurred the face of the child in the screenshot below.)

Screenshot of The Telegraph video from February 13, 2023. (Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

The White Helmets, officially known as Syria Civil Defence, posted a longer video version on its official X account on February 7, 2023. According to the account’s bio, White Helmets is a non-governmental humanitarian organization operating in Syria and Turkey. At the timestamp of 1:10 minutes, we can observe the now-viral visuals. The video shows a child being rescued from the rubble on February 6, 2023, in the town of Jenderes in the Afrin countryside, north of Aleppo, Syria, after the earthquake.

Screenshot of video shared by Syria Civil Defence on February 7, 2023. (Source: X/Screenshot)

The verdict

The viral video is from Syria, where a child was rescued from the rubble after the February 2023 earthquake, and is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.