Fact check: Video doesn't show Hamas shooting at airdrops
October 25, 2024
A video has gone viral on social media, allegedly showing Hamas fighters shooting at humanitarian airdrops. Posts sharing the video suggest that, despite Israel's efforts to provide aid, Hamas is the primary barrier to assistance reaching civilians.
Claim: According to one post on X (formerly Twitter) the video shows how Hamas fighter shoot at humanitarian aid airdrops. The video opens in a barbershop where several men are seen rushing outside. Your can hear the sound of gunfire. The camera then pans up to show two planes flying over what appears to be an urban area, releasing aid packages attached to parachutes. Another post on X shares the video with the caption:
"Idiot Gazans firing at aid airdrop yesterday.. how do people get so dumb?"
Both of these Tweets have been viewed more than one million times each. The video has also been widely shared by other accounts with large followings on X, amassing millions of views in English. It has also circulated in Persian, Arabic, and Spanish on various platforms.
DW fact check: False
The video is digitally manipulated and does not show Hamas fighters shooting at humanitarian airdrops. It consists of two unrelated clips edited together.
Video of airdrops being shot at is a collage
A reverse image search of the barbershop scene reveals that the clip is from an older video that appeared online as early as 2022. Modified versions of this footage have circulated with added sound effects, such as gunfire, sirens, and screams. The video then pans up to the sky, where the clouds have been digitally edited to show praying hands or a figure of an angel ascending to the sky. Multiple versions of this video are available online — some claiming it shows an angel sighting, with the word 'Amen' superimposed on the footage.
The second segment, depicting the airdrop, has been circulating on platforms like X, TikTok, and YouTube since at least late September, featuring no sounds of gunfire. However, its exact date and location remain unverified. Excerpts of the video went viral during that time in Persian and Hindi, falsely claiming to show 'Israel's deadly commandos' landing in Lebanon for a ground invasion.
Aid airdrops are dangerous but needed
Israeli official data indicate that humanitarian airdrops were delivered to Gaza over 126 times from February to September 2024, with the most recent facilitated by the UAE in October. There have been reports of incidents where malfunctioning parachutes led to fatalities, including the reported death of a 3-year-old boy —similar to an earlier case in March when faulty airdrops reportedly killed civilians.
While the video may depict one of these aid deliveries, whether this specific airdrop corresponds with any documented humanitarian operation remains inconclusive.
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens under intense Israeli military operations, access to aid remains severely restricted. According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between October 1 and October 21, only four out of 70 shipments designated for people in North Gaza and Gaza City governorates were cleared through the Al Rashid checkpoint by Israeli authorities.
Humanitarian and non-governmental organizations, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, have consistently criticized the Israeli government, accusing it of systematically blocking essential resources — such as food, medicine, fuel, and medical supplies — from entering Gaza. Some rights groups, like Human Rights Watch, have even said that Israel was using starvation as a method of warfare.
Officials from the US have urged Israel to facilitate aid deliveries to reduce human suffering. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies that his government is blocking food deliveries while Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) officials say that Hamasintercepts and misuses humanitarian aid. Hamas is the Palestinian Islamist group ruling the Gaza Strip for almost two decades recognized as a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the US, and many others.