Doubting the suffering of a child who lost his family in the Zawayda area by claiming it’s a staged scene

Western accounts supportive of the Israeli occupation circulated a video clip on social media platform X showing a child crying because he couldn’t find pictures of his deceased mother, with publishers alleging it to be staged. This claim was part of the “Pallywood” campaign that casts doubt on the reality of the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza due to the ongoing war.

The Palestinian observatory “Tahaqaq” investigated the authenticity of the circulated video and found it to be genuine, not staged, but employed in a misleading context.

Through public sources, the observatory found that the video clip in question was documented within a comprehensive report prepared by journalist Israa Al-Buheisi, a correspondent for Al-Alam TV in Gaza.

Al-Buheisi also posted the same scene on her official Instagram account on March 1st of this year, captioning it “Yahya Hamad, the sole survivor of his family,” explaining to “Tahaqaq” that Yahya Hamad is the sole survivor of the massacre suffered by the Hamad family in the Zawayda area, northeast of Deir al-Balah. His father, mother, siblings, and grandparents were martyred, and he was crying because he wished to see his deceased mother’s face.

She further explained that his caretaker is now his uncle’s wife, who is caring for him. She clarified that the video was documented at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where he still receives treatment.

The observatory also reached several press interviews with the injured child, including an interview with Al-Jazeera on March 4th of this year, and his uncle’s wife also spoke about the circumstances of the targeting.

It’s worth noting that the war in Gaza has been ongoing since October 7th of last year, resulting in approximately 31,341 martyrs and 73,134 injuries according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. The ministry indicated in its latest update that there have been 13 massacres against families in the sector, resulting in 149 martyrs and 300 injuries in the past 24 hours.