| schema:text
| - AAP FACTCHECK – Social media users claim the Israeli military shot an Australian citizen in Gaza and have called on the federal government to take action against Israel.
But the claim is false. The posts are confusing Palestinian journalist Salma al-Qadoumi – who was injured while reporting in Gaza on Sunday, August 18 – with an Australian woman with a similar name.
The claim is made in a Facebook post, which shares a screenshot of a post on X.
Another Facebook post asks Australian politicians if the shooting will make them take action against Israel “or will you continue on your usual cowardly way?”
A comment beneath the post states: “I will NEVER vote for Labor again. Spineless US lapdogs.”
The original X post reads: “The journalist targeted and shot in the back today was Australian.”
“Australia needs to demand that Israel explain why they just shot this young female graduate from Sydney wearing a PRESS vest in Gaza,” it adds.
The posts show the LinkedIn profile of Salma Al Qadoumi, a graduate interior designer at “BLP” – Australian design company Billard Leece Partnership – which has offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
The X account also shares a separate post of a video it says shows Palestinian journalist Salma al-Qadoumi, who is wearing a Press vest.
It is a segment of a Facebook video from digital news group Middle East Eye, which says it shows the Palestinian journalist who was shot on Sunday in Khan Younis.
The woman in the video is not the woman in the LinkedIn profile.
Billard Leece Partnership says Ms Al Qadoumi has not been shot and the posts are false.
“We want to confirm that our BLP employee & interior designer, Salma Al Qadoumi, is safe and well,” a spokeswoman for the company told AAP FactCheck.
“Thank you for reaching out for clarity and expressing your concern. There seems to have been some misinformation, same name but different people.
“We are saddened by what has occurred to the journalist in Gaza.”
The Coalition for Women in Journalism has reported Salma al-Qadoumi was shot in the back by Israeli tank fire while reporting on the escalation of Israel’s ground offensive in Khan Younis.
She was receiving medical treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital at the time of publication.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All information, text and images included on the AAP Websites is for personal use only and may not be re-written, copied, re-sold or re-distributed, framed, linked, shared onto social media or otherwise used whether for compensation of any kind or not, unless you have the prior written permission of AAP. For more information, please refer to our standard terms and conditions.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)