Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighborhood by neighborhood on Oct. 10, in retaliation for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants. The latest Israel-Hamas war has already claimed more than 1,800 lives on both sides and is expected to escalate.
On Oct. 9, a viral post on X claimed this video showed Israel attempting to fake footage of deaths during the war. The video has more than 1.8 million views.
THE QUESTION
Does this video show Israel attempting to create fake death footage?
THE SOURCES
- TikTok video from April 2022
- “Empty Place,” a short film by Awni Eshtaiwe
- Awni Eshtaiwe, creative film and TV director based in Ramallah, Palestine
THE ANSWER
No, this video does not show Israel attempting to create fake death footage. The video clip is behind-the-scenes footage from a short Palestinian film shot and published in 2022.
WHAT WE FOUND
This viral video does not show Israel attempting to fabricate footage of deaths, like the viral X post claims. The video clip actually shows behind-the-scenes footage from the Palestinian short film “Empty Place.” It has been circulating online since 2022.
VERIFY found that TikTok user awawdehproduction posted the video clip on April 21, 2022. The video clip’s caption reads: “Behind the scenes of filming the scene of the settlers’ enemies attacking the child Ahmad Manasra” in Arabic.
A few days before the video clip was posted on TikTok, “Empty Place” director Awni Eshtaiwe shared the full version of the short film on his YouTube page. He also shared it on his Facebook page in August 2023.
VERIFY reached out to Eshtaiwe via Facebook and he confirmed the video clip was taken during the filming of his short film.
The final version of “Empty Place” matches the behind-the-scenes video footage. In the short film, you can see the boy from the viral video wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and blue and white sneakers lying on the ground with one of his legs twisted in an upward position. A group of adult actors stands over the boy, either holding weapons or smartphones. The adult actors’ clothing also matches the outfits worn by the people seen in the viral video.
“Empty Place” is based on the events that led up to the imprisonment of Palestinian Ahmad Manasra. Manasra was arrested in 2015 at age 13 in relation to the stabbing and injury of two Israelis in East Jerusalem. He was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.
Reuters fact-checked the same video when it was circulating online in 2022. During that time, some social media users claimed the video showed Palestinians using actors to stage a fake killing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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