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| - Fact Check: This girl was not 'injured' in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
A picture of a baby with red marks on its face is going viral with many social media users claiming that the child was attacked during recent escalations in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
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India Today Fact Check
The picture is over two years old and from Illinois in the United States. The baby underwent laser treatment to remove birthmarks on her face which left red spots for some days.
Israeli airstrikes on suspected Hamas positions in Gaza have allegedly killed and injured several civilians as well, including women and children. Many images with such claims are floating on the Internet.
One such picture shows a toddler with red spots all over her face. The accompanying claim says she was injured after Israel used prohibited white phosphorous bombs to pound Gaza.
A Twitter user shared the picture and wrote, "This beautiful little baby got attacked by Israel using white phosphorus bombs which is prohibited.. #Gaza #SaveGazaFromZionists."
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading. The picture is over two years old and from Illinois in the United States. The baby underwent laser treatment to remove birthmarks on her face which left red spots for some days.
Some social media users also posted the picture with an Arabic caption linking it to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. The misleading post is viral on Facebook as well. The archived version can be seen here.
AFWA investigation
Using Google reverse search, we found that International news agency "Caters" and "The Sun" had used the viral image in their articles dated April 2019. As per the reports, Deanna Latino, a woman from Rockford, Illinois, lamented how strangers stared at her daughter Bianca and confused her rare birthmark treatment for abuse.
Deanna had to deal with "dirty looks" and unsolicited comments from people since her daughter was born, the report says. Bianca was diagnosed with port-wine stain or a birthmark when she was four days old. Her parents started pulse dye laser treatment on her, hoping it would stop the birthmark from growing. But the treatment caused red spots on Bianca's face for two weeks, which later healed. Fortunately, after the treatment, Bianca's birthmark was barely noticeable.
"The Mirror" had also published a news report with the same information about this girl.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the claim along with the viral picture is false. The picture of the little girl has nothing to do with Israel's attack on Palestine. However, as per the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip killed 212 people, including 61 children, 35 women and 16 elderly persons.
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