Misleading Claim:
Propaganda accounts are spreading two distinct images of Hamas terrorists holding smiling children and Israeli soldiers apprehending a child and labelling it as terrorism during the current Israel Palestine Conflict.
Some of the Verified profiles on X, including Kashif Arsalaan (“@KashifArsalaan“) wrote “Who is terrorist? #FreeGaza #PalestineUnderAttack #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #palastine #Palestine #FreePalaestine #FreePalestine” sharing the picture of Hamas terrorists walking with kids. According to him, the picture is from the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Who is terrorist?#FreeGaza #PalestineUnderAttack #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #palastine #Palestine #FreePalaestine #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/10EbpLrXdZ
— Kashif Arsalaan (@KashifArsalaan) October 12, 2023
Many other users, including Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (“@DrLoupis“) also claimed that these are the images of the current Israel- Palestine conflict. The archive can be read from above.
Is the picture related to the current Israel- Palestine conflict? : Fact- Check
The two pictures are unrelated and are being shared to cover up and counteract the terror attack carried out by Hamas.
The first picture, which dates from May 2021 shows Hamas terrorists strolling with children, is old and does not appear to show any Israeli children. The second picture shows Omar Rimawi, a 14-year-old Palestinian child, who was detained in February 2016 after stabbing and killing an Israeli settler in the West Bank.
The picture was tweeted by the user “@adham922” with the caption “You can comment.. #صورة_اليوم A people that embraces the resistance…and a resistance that protects the people” on May 29,2021.
لكم التعليق.. #صورة_اليوم
— أدهم أبو سلمية #غزة 🇵🇸 (@adham922) May 29, 2021
شعب يحتضن المقاومة.. ومقاومة تحمي الشعب pic.twitter.com/62s4EtrxEk
An article was published by MIDDLE EAST EYE on Jan 9,2019, which said “Palestinian families are accusing Israeli courts of deliberately delaying hearings so their children will receive heavier sentences”. We got the information from the article that the 51-year-old Sameer Rimawi, Omar’s father, told Middle East Eye, “It has been an agonising three years.” “Every time the court meets, we hope that today will be the one, but it hasn’t arrived yet.”The Rimawi family is certain that the court has been dragging out Omar’s sentence for one reason only: as he gets older, the court can use that as justification to give him a longer prison term. Human rights advocates claim that this is a standard practise for the Israeli legal system.
According to rights organisations Addameer and Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), about 700 Palestinians from the West Bank who are under the age of eighteen are prosecuted in Israeli military courts each year, which boast a conviction rate of 99.7 percent.
While there are numerous reports of Hamas terrorists committing crimes against children, there are also numerous images online of Israeli soldiers being loving and kind to Palestinian children.
THE TIMES OF INDIA confirmed that 10 Nepali students were dead in the ongoing terrorist attack by Hamas terror group in Israel as reported by Nepal Embassy official.
On the other hand, Hananya Naftali shared a picture on facebook and wrote “A beautiful moment captured in Hebron…An IDF soldier sharing his snack with Palestinian children. You will NEVER see this on the mainstream media.”
The propagandists are hard at work whitewashing crimes and elevating terrorism while the world watches the humanitarian tragedy that has resulted from thousands of innocent people being killed by Hamas terrorists.There have been many instances in the past of Palestinian children attacking adults fatally.
A growing number of young Palestinian men, women, and children have been fleeing their homes and stabbing Israelis in recent times as reported by GATESTONE INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL POLICY COUNCIL. Officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA) assert that no one orders our children to carry out terrorist acts and that they make this decision on their own. However, every Palestinian is aware that these ostensibly “independent,” “spontaneous” attacks are actually the result of planned, intentional incitement, some of which comes from clerics’ fatwas (religious opinions) and some of which comes from politicians.
According to THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, The Israel Defence Forces reported that two Palestinian children brandishing knives had been arrested outside a West Bank settlement south of Jerusalem. A Jewish Israeli boy, 13, was stabbed in the neck by the two Palestinian cousins, ages 13 and 15, as he was leaving a store to buy candy. Hassan Manasra, the older attacker, was shot dead by Israeli security forces after he ran at them brandishing a knife, and Ahmed Manasra, the 13-year-old, was run over by a bystander before being taken into custody.
Israel’s Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, has advocated for lowering the nation’s minimum age requirement for serving jail time from 14 to 12 years old, citing the youthful age of the recent attackers. Since the disturbances started, 44 alleged Palestinian attackers—many of them were teenagers and young men in their early 20s—have reportedly been shot and killed by police, soldiers, and security guards in Israel. You can read the full article by Vice News here.
D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:
Propaganda accounts circulating two different images featuring #Hamas terrorists with smiling kids and Israeli soldiers capturing a child labelling it with terrorism, the two images are unrelated and being circulated to hide and balance the terror act committed by Hamas.(1/5) pic.twitter.com/q1L4J6rzXO
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) October 14, 2023
Intent:
Children always suffer the most during wars because they are most susceptible to the terrible consequences of conflict. However, they are used as instruments for a social disinformation campaign by radical extremists and supporters of terrorism, such as Kashif Arsalaan.
Conclusion:
Claim : The two images are being circulated by misleading propaganda accounts showing smiling children with Hamas terrorists and Israeli soldiers capturing a child and labelling it as terrorism.
Fact : The first image shows terrorists from Hamas strolling with children; it was taken in May 2021, and there are no reports that the children are Israeli. The second image shows Omar Rimawi, a 14-year-old Palestinian child, who was detained in February 2016 after stabbing and killing an Israeli settler in the West Bank.
