1 year ago
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A video showing a troupe of parachutists landing on a building is viral with the claim that it shows Palestinian fighters landing on Israeli territory during the ongoing conflict between the Palestinian extremist organisation Hamas and Israel.
BOOM found this claim to be false; our fact-check reveals that the video was shot in Cairo, Egypt, and not in Israel.
Over 300 people in Israel, and 313 people in the Gaza Strip have been reported dead at the time of writing this article, after Islamist militant group Hamas launched one of the biggest military offensives against Israel on October 7, 2023. Following this social media has been flooded with unverified imagery being linked to the ongoing conflict.
A user shared the video with caption, "NEW FOOTAGE : Palestinian Freedom Fighters 🇵🇸 seen parachuting down into Israel Territory. This looks like PUBG Battle Royal. This is f****** insane ." (sic.)
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a few relevant keyword searches but was unable to find any credible news reports indicating Hamas paratroopers landing in Israeli territories.
We went through the replies, and found several users refute the viral caption (here and here), and stated instead that the video shows Egyptian paratroopers training at the Egyptian Military Academy.
We ran a keyframe from the video through Google Translate, and found the words "Military College" written on the building in Arabic.
Taking cue from the responses to the tweets, we used Google Maps to locate the Egyptian Military Training Academy, and found several photos of the academy building which closely resembled the building seen in the viral video.
Furthermore, the Egyptian flag was also spotted hoisted over the building.
BOOM was unable to independently verify the date the footage was shot, and the context behind it. However, our geolocation establishes that the video was shot in Egypt and not Israel.
