Here Are The Facts To Counter Misinformation About the Israel-Hamas War

Israel said it has recaptured Gaza border areas from Hamas as the violent conflict entered Day 5, leaving more than 1,200 dead in Israel and 765 in Gaza.

The militant group has threatened to execute one hostage every time Israel hits a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip, without warning. The group is known to have 150 hostages.

The threat came as Israel imposed a total seige on the Gaza Strip, cutting off the water supply and deepening fears of an already dire humanitarian situation further deteriorating.

Growing Difficulty For Onlookers To Sort Fact From Fiction

Yesterday, the Israeli military raised concerns over “a number of launches from Syria into Israeli territory”. Meanwhile, Hamas also fired rockets towards Israel from Lebanon on Tuesday.

In the days since the war began on Saturday morning, a flood of videos and photos have filled social media, making it difficult for onlookers to sort fact from fiction.

While plenty of real imagery of the ongoing conflict have emerged, they have been intermingled with users pushing false claims. Here is a closer look at the facts.

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Biden Sending $8 Billion In Military Assistance To Israel?

Claim: A memo shows US President Joe Biden just announced he is sending $8 billion in military assistance to Israel to support the country in its multi-front battle.

Fact: An image of a memo widely shared online was fabricated. On Monday, the White House confirmed the president has not made any such announcement.

Nonetheless, the claim came against a backdrop of the White House and key lawmakers in Congress reviewing the possibility of tying aid to Israel and Ukraine together.

Putin Warning The US To “Stay Away” From The War?

Claim: A couple of videos show Russian President Vladimir Putin warning the US to “stay away” from the latest Israel-Hamas attack.

Fact: The two videos are months old clips of the Kremlin leader speaking about the war in Ukraine, and not the conflict in the Middle East, which have been miscaptioned in English.

“I am warning America. Russia will help Palestine and America can do nothing,” the captions on one video state. One TikTok post that shared the clip had got over 11,000 views as of Monday.