TRUE OR FALSE. What can we learn from the war of disinformation after the bombing of the Gaza hospital?

Between Israel and Hamas, fake news fuels both camps. An Al-Jazeera journalist, who claims to work in the Gaza Strip, says she saw with her own eyes a “Ayyash 250 rocket” of Hamas, concluding that “missed shot” of the terrorist organization. The publication was taken up by several Internet users. Problem: this is not the account of an Al-Jazeera journalist. Until the explosion, the account mainly published about India and Pakistan, “absolutely nothing to do with the Gaza Strip”, points out journalist Louis Augry. The account has since been deleted.

Several online hoaxes

Several videos are also supposed to prove the Hamas shot, including one in particular. “We can very clearly see a rocket fire, then an explosion”, explains Louis Augry. The trace of the video was found in… 2022, already to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But “nothing to do with the bombed hospital [mardi 17 octobre]”. The misinformation, still online, has been viewed more than 5 million times.

A fake news story on Facebook attests to another version, that of an Israeli attack. “It would be the official account of the Israeli army, which would take responsibility for this attack. (…) The problem is that this publication has since been deleted and does not come from an official account of the Israeli army at all”indicates Louis Augry.