By: Emmi Kivi
March 18 2024
2022 video of an assault of Palestinian man at the Al-Aqsa Mosque shared as recent
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Source: X/Instagram
Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
The footage dates back to September 2022, and it is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Claim ID b758591b
What is the claim?
A viral video showing an elderly Palestinian man being assaulted is circulating on social media, with users claiming it shows a recent assault amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
One user shared the video with the caption, “Today at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the first Friday of Ramadan.....” Another wrote, “An Israeli soldier pushes to the ground an old Palestinian man in the front occupied West Bank, smashing his head injuring him.”
“This elderly Palestinian gentleman is brutally assaulted by Israeli militia in Palestine. This is what Israel is defending. This is what America and Britain is paying for,” wrote one user.
However, Logically Facts found that the footage dates back to September 2022 and is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
What did we find?
A reverse image search of some of the keyframes of the footage led us to an X post (formerly Twitter) with visuals that matched the viral video published on September 26, 2022, predating the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The X post was captioned, “More disturbing footage of the Israeli force’s attack on Palestinian Muslim worshippers inside Al Aqsa mosque.”
Screenshot on the left shows the viral footage and screenshot on the right displays the matching visuals from 2022. (Source: X)
With this additional information, we found matching visuals in an Al-Jazeera article headlined “Palestinians arrested, injured as far-right Jews enter Al-Aqsa,” published September 26, 2022. Accordingly, during the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), Israeli police charged at the Palestinians gathered in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and prevented others from entering. An elderly Palestinian man was hospitalized after suffering head injuries when he was pushed to the ground by Israeli police, Al Jazeera reported.
We also found extended footage of the incident on Al-Jazeera’s YouTube page, published on the same day.
In 2024, Ramadan lasts from March 10 to April 9. In the past years, during Ramadan, the Al-Aqsa mosque compound has been a key site for the escalation of violence in Jerusalem’s Old City. During Ramadan, Muslim worshippers try to access the mosque for special prayers performed only during Ramadan.
According to AP News, the first Friday prayers passed without violence at the Al-Aqsa mosque despite tight age and permission restrictions imposed by Israel.
The Verdict
The footage was captured in September 2022, and shows an elderly Palestinian man suffering a head injury after being assaulted by an Israeli police officer at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem. It is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.