Israeli accounts question the injury of a Palestinian child and claim that it is fake under the hashtags “Pallywood” and “GazaWood”

Israeli accounts, including Israel in Arabic, posted two videos of an injured child on the social networking site X, claiming that the scenes were staged, and accompanied them with the comment: “Unparalleled creativity in Hamas drama. This Gazan child’s entry into the hospital is filmed from several angles to create anxiety and terror in the viewer. A cinematic aspect of Hamas mythology supported by channels, reporters and the general public, based on exploiting children for propaganda.”

The Palestinian Observatory “Tahaqaq” verified the truth of the circulated allegations, by searching in public sources, using reverse search tools, and communicating with live sources, as it turned out that the claim is misleading, and the scenes are real from the Deir al-Balah massacre.

Real scenes from the Deir al-Balah massacre on 28/8/2024

The two clips were documented by Palestinian journalist Hani Abu Rizq, via his Instagram account, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip.

They document a real incident of a Palestinian family targeted by Israeli shelling in the vicinity of Al-Manfaluti School, which houses displaced people east of Deir al-Balah, on August 28.

The first scene in the video shows a child carrying his injured little sister, and he was asking, according to what appeared in the clip, “Where are the rays”.

The second clip shows a woman entering Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, running after a young man who was carrying her injured daughter. The person who documented the video attached a comment: “My children are gone, mother, follow my children.” A woman searches for her children among the injured.

In the details of the incident, the journalist Hani Abu Rizq explained the details of the video to the “Tahaqaq” team, saying: “These scenes are real, of a Palestinian family targeted by the Israeli occupation in the vicinity of Al-Manfaluti School in Deir Al-Balah last Wednesday.”

Abu Rizq added, “The first scene was when the child was carrying his sister inside the hospital due to a state of hysterical fear that took over them, while his mother was rushing from one place to another inside the hospital, searching for the rest of her family members.”

Regarding the second scene, which shows the mother running after a young man carrying her daughter, Abu Rizq explained that at this moment the child’s mother was in a state of shock because she had lost a number of her family members. After they entered the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, she took her daughter from the young man’s hands to reassure herself that she was still alive.

The same incident was documented from different angles and in different scenes. In another video clip that the “Tahaqaq” team received of the same woman, Wahb appears hugging her other child after he died from his injuries.

As for the child who appeared in the first scene of the claim, he appeared in another scene carrying his sister, and after comparing the scenes and their matching, it became clear that they were the same two children, while the child answered the journalist’s question, what happened to you?

“My brothers and I were sitting in the tent, and the occupation targeted us,” he added. “I don’t know who is left of my family,” he continued, “and they are all gone.”

In another scene, the two children appeared crying after losing a number of their family members.

A number of other photos were published documenting the incident and the moments of farewell to the martyrs in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Some of them show the moment when the medical teams provided treatment to the injured girl who appeared in the scene of the claim within the context of questioning the truth of her injury, which proves the truth of the incident.

Martyrs in an Israeli massacre at a school in Deir al-Balah 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the martyrdom of eight citizens, in a bombing by the Israeli occupation forces, around the “Al-Manfaluti” school, which shelters displaced people east of Deir al-Balah, which led to the martyrdom of eight citizens and the injury of others

“Pallywood, Gaza Wood” .. Two synonyms for an Israeli campaign questioning the suffering of the Palestinians.

Since the events of October 7, 2023, and the similar Israeli war on Gaza, the communication units have witnessed campaigns of misinformation and doubt, as they witness in Gaza, and practice war in it, under the hashtags “Pallywood” and “Gaza Wood”, and focus on moving forward. Questioning the truth is a pseudonym, and leaders fake them to gain sympathy and international support.

“”PaIIyoowd” is a term consisting of two words, “Palestine” (Palestine) and Hollywood (an area of Los Angeles, California, United States of America. It is known for being the center of the world’s film and television industry), and its users claim that Palestinians represent their injury and pain and lie about the martyrs, the injured and the victims.

The hashtag has been used in previous wars by accounts affiliated with Israel to cast doubt on the suffering of Palestinians. It has been circulating for years and was also widespread during the Israeli aggression on Gaza in May 2021. Israeli accounts promoted misleading claims similar to those being circulated in the ongoing war, and published them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It was also widespread in the context of casting doubt in 2018.

While the term “GAZAWOOD” was recently used during the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, in contrast to the “Pallywood” campaign that was launched in previous wars, which is a sarcastic campaign that existed for the same goals of questioning the pain of the Palestinians, but the word “Palestine” was replaced. With the word “Gaza” and linking it to the term “Hollywood”.

The campaign’s methods are skeptical of the hashtags “#Ballywood_#Gazawood”

The campaign promoters use different methods to present scenes and claims that cast doubt on the Palestinians, including recycling scenes and claims that cast doubt on the reality of the death of Palestinians by publishing videos that are basically real but are presented in a skeptical and sarcastic manner and that they are staged scenes. Sometimes, some modifications are added to these videos, such as slowing down some scenes or zooming in on some of them to focus attention on them within the vision of their promoters.

In another way, by publishing scenes from films that have nothing to do with Palestine, and are being circulated as being in Gaza, and were forged by the people of the Strip.

They also exploited scenes of solidarity with the ongoing events in Gaza, and they also claimed that they were fabricated by the Palestinians.

The campaign did not stop at the above-mentioned methods, but rather constantly invents new methods to serve its goals, which are mainly to gain international support for Israel and distract attention from the real reality in the Gaza Strip. The “Tahaqaq” team refuted a large part of it and continues to follow the campaign and clarify the truth of its claims on an ongoing basis.

Israel’s war on Gaza continues

The war in Gaza Strip continues for the 330th day. According to a Palestinian Ministry of Health report released on Saturday, August 31, the occupation army committed 5 massacres against families in Gaza Strip, reaching hospitals 89 martyrs and 205 injuries, bringing the toll of war victims to more than 40 thousand Palestinian martyrs and more than 93 thousand injuries.