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| - Fact Check: This photo of dead children is NOT from Israel-Hamas conflict
India Today found that the photograph is over a decade old and from Syria.
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India Today Fact Check
This photo is from a 2013 incident in Syria. It is not related to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
A disturbing photo of dead children shrouded in white is being circulated on social media. “CHILD GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE. 614 Palestinian children murdered by the Israeli IOF Forces,” reads the photo’s caption.
India Today found that the photo has no connection to the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. Instead, it is from a 2013 incident in Syria. According to Gaza’s health ministry, however, at least 614 children have been killed in Gaza from Israeli strikes as of October 13.
Our probe
With the help of a reverse image search, we found the same photo on the stock image site Alamy. According to this site, the photo was shot on August 22, 2013, on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria.
Syrian rebels reportedly claimed the children were killed on August 21, 2013, in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta. However, the Syrian government denied allegations of chemical weapon use. Other photos from the incident are also available on Alamy with credits to media site UPI.com.
On August 27, 2013, UPI.com published the same photo in its report. The report detailed that United Nations weapons inspectors decided to postpone their visit to Syria due to ongoing safety concerns. According to the article, on August 26, 2013, these UN weapons inspectors were targeted by armed assailants as they attempted to access a suburb in Damascus for the purpose of investigating the alleged chemical weapon incident.
The same photo was also used by other websites including the National Geographic and the Daily Mail in 2013 in reports about Syria.
Meanwhile, according to The Guardian, Gaza’s health ministry, on October 13 claimed that at least 1,900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza from Israeli strikes, including 614 children and 370 women. A UN International Children's Emergency Fund spokesperson on October 14 also reportedly said that as many as 700 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the conflict.
It is hence clear that while the number of dead children mentioned in the social media post matches the reported figures, the image itself is over a decade old and unrelated to the recent conflict in Gaza.
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