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| - Fact Check: Saudi Arabia celebrating Yahya Sinwar's killing? No, this video is old
India Today found that the video is from Saudi Arabia's National Day celebration in 2023.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is more than one year old and shows Saudi Arabia's National Day celebrations. It is unrelated to Yahya Sinwar’s killing.
Following the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, killed by Israeli troops on October 16 in Rafah, a video of a magnificent show of fireworks began making the rounds on social media. Allegedly, it showed people in Saudi Arabia celebrating Sinwar’s killing.
An X user shared the clip and wrote: “Celebrations erupt in Saudi Arabia following the death of Sinwar”.
India Today found that the video is more than one year old and shows the celebration of Saudi Arabia's National Day. It has no relation to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
Our Probe
We observed many comments responding to the viral posts, saying the video showed celebrations of the Saudi National Day. With the help of relevant keywords, we found several similar videos of fireworks shows on YouTube, said to be from Saudi National Day events.
Saudi Arabia’s national day is celebrated on September 23 every year, with massive fireworks displays organised across the country.
Upon searching further, we found that the viral video was uploaded to the YouTube channel “Moamen Ahmed” on September 24, 2023. The Arabic caption suggests the video was from Saudi Arabia’s 93rd National Day.
The channel also shared a similar video of fireworks in September 2022. It is to be noted that this video is also from the same location as seen in the viral video. The location of the video is mentioned in the description as “Thaghr Plaza”.
We searched for this location on Google Street View and found this was indeed the location where the viral video was shot in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. A comparison of the Street View and the viral video can be seen below.
Thus, it’s clear the video doesn’t show Yahya Sinwar’s death being celebrated.
What’s Saudi Arabia's stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict?
In May this year, Saudi Arabia officially condemned the Israeli forces’ attacks on Palestine, calling them genocidal massacres. The Kingdom also stressed the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities to stop the “massacres against the Palestinians.”
However, The Atlantic reported last month that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he does not personally care about the "Palestinian issue". The Middle East Eye conversely quoted a Saudi official who described this account as “incorrect”.
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