| Claim |
| Casting doubt on a video of a newborn inside a tent in Rafah and alleging that she is a “silicone doll.” |
An Israeli account nicknamed “kyrixermis” on “X,” Twitter previously, shared a video showing a man holding his newborn baby. In response, the caption reads: “Look at the Silicone Baby Doll trembling. This was supposed to be a baby born in the tent. Happy birthday, silicone doll, welcome to Pallywood.”
This falls within the context of a questioning campaign towards Palestinian suffering amid the Israeli war in Gaza, under the hashtag “Pallywood.”
The Palestinian observatory “Tahaqaq” checked the video’s authenticity and the attached claim by researching public sources. It revealed that the video was posted by al-Alam TV correspondent Ahmed Sahmoud on Instagram.
Journalist Ahmed Sahmoud clarified to “Tahaqaq” that the baby in the video is not a doll, but a real infant. The footage was captured during his journalistic coverage in Rafah, near the Al-Attar mosque, where he walked inside a displaced person’s tent, responding to a man’s request to document their experiences inside the tent.
He emphasized that the baby was born two days before the filming date inside the tent of Naim family who had been displaced from Beit-Hanoun in northern Gaza to Rafah city.
Sahmoud additionally provided another video from a different angle interviewing the infant’s grandmother. Clearly visible, the grandmother held her granddaughter, refuting the account’s claim that she is a doll.
In the video, the grandmother discussed the harsh living conditions inside the tent. Although the infant’s mother appeared in the video, her health prevented her from speaking, as explained by the videographer.
| Fact-Checking Summary: |
| The baby is real, born to the Naim family that was displaced from Beit-Hanoun in northern Gaza, within their tent in Rafah, two days before the video documentation. This confirmation comes from Ahmed Sahmoud, the video’s documentarian, and correspondent of al-Alam TV, as affirmed to “Tahaqaq”. |
| Prosecution sources | Verification sources |
| kyrixermis, Archive. | al-Alam TV correspondent Ahmed Sahmoud. |
