India TV Fact Check: The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has entered its 9th day, with over 4,000 casualties reported from both sides due to the attacks carried out so far. Amidst this, several misleading videos related to Israel and Palestine are going viral on social media. We came across one such video on the internet claiming that claims that some people from Lebanon are trying to cross the border into Israel in support of Palestine. When we fact-checked this, we found out that this video has nothing to do with the Israel-Palestine war.
What is going viral?
This video is going viral on Facebook. A user named Shila Haque shared this video on October 13, 2023. The caption with this video reads, "Lebanese citizens are crossing the border fence in support of the Palestinians. The S.S.N.P flag is waving in the air. The rise of Greater Syria again!"
This video has been shared by several users on social media, and almost all of them are making a similar claim. In the video, a large crowd can be seen under a border fence. Many people appear to be climbing on this fence, and some are waving flags from it. The claim accompanying this video suggests that Lebanese citizens are crossing the border into Israel in support of the Palestinians.
India TV did fact check
We first carefully examined this video and extracted some frames to conduct a Google Lens search. In the Google search results, we found a news article from Arab News with the headline "Lebanese demonstrations voice backing for Palestinian cause." This article was published on May 17, 2021. The image in this article also shows some people climbing the border fence.
Arab News reported, "Southern Lebanon saw demonstrations for the third day on Sunday as political and civil figures continue to urge Lebanon to refrain from involvement in Palestinian affairs, as they did not want to drag Lebanon into Palestinian matters. Many Lebanese Future Movement supporters gathered in the border city of Marwahin to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinians. On Friday, a group of young men with Palestinian and Hezbollah flags launched an attack on the barbed wire fence, after which Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Lebanese youth."
We found another related news article from The National News on the MENA website corroborates the events captured in the viral video. The article features the same image that was used in the video, showing people climbing the border fence and waving flags. The article, published on May 16, 2021, describes Israeli border guards responding with tear gas and warning shots as demonstrators attempted to climb the border wall between Lebanon and Israel. "Israeli border guards fired tear gas and warning shells at a crowd trying to climb the border wall from Lebanon on Saturday, as protesters returned to the border for the second consecutive day At several locations in the south, hundreds of youths climbed the concrete barricade separating Israel and Lebanon, waving Iranian, Hezbollah and Palestinian flags, as well as throwing Molotov cocktails on the Israeli side of the border," he National News reported.
What came out in the fact check?
In fact, in our fact-check, it was confirmed that this viral video is not recent and is from 2021 when some people from Lebanon climbed the border fence near Israel to express their support for Palestine. These individuals did not attempt to breach Israel's border and they were there for a demonstration purpose. The video does not depict a recent event related to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
