By: Sam Doak
April 12 2023
An image from 2022 has been misattributed to recent raids at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
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Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
This image was not taken in 2023; it shows a police raid at the same site in April 2022.
Claim ID 3e4a707c
Context
Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on April 5, 2023, leading to numerous reported injuries, with authorities using stun grenades and rubber bullets. Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the holiest sites in the Islamic world, and the decision to raid it during Ramadan has elicited significant criticism internationally. Footage depicting Israeli police beating what appear to be unarmed people with batons and firearms has fueled condemnation of this incident.
In the aftermath of this incident, an image has been widely circulated showing a number of men lying on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs with cable ties. Social media users and some media outlets have attributed the image to the recent raid. In its coverage of the April 5 events, the Mail Online stated that it "appeared to show worshippers with their hands cuffed behind their backs and laying the ground after Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque."
However, these images are not from the raid on April 5, 2023, but from an earlier raid at the same location uploaded on April 23, 2022.
In Fact
A reverse image search reveals that this photograph was not taken during the raid that took place on April 5. The earliest version that Logically Facts could find was uploaded to Twitter on April 23, 2022.
The caption attached to the image from April 2022 reads, "This is what happens in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Where is the world." Details visible in publicly available photographs of the mosque, including distinctive carpets and bookshelves, confirm that it was taken within the holy site.
Logically Facts has concluded that this image was taken following raids on the site that occurred in April 2022. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian NGO, 158 people were injured over the course of these events.
The Verdict
The image depicting Palestinians with their hands tied behind their backs was not taken in 2023 as claimed. A reverse image search shows that it was first uploaded in April 2022. Logically has concluded that it shows the aftermath of a police raid at Al-Aqsa Mosque, albeit at an earlier date than is currently being claimed. This claim has therefore been marked as misleading.