It’s been a month since the unfortunate and cowardly attack of Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, which has only escalated the tensions between Israel and Palestine. During this time, some individuals with their own agendas are using propaganda and misinformation to paint a distorted picture. They’re trying to depict Israel as the villain and Hamas as innocent victims, all to gain sympathy. Amidst this, a picture went viral on social media in which a female reporter believed to be Hana Mahameed is doing her reporting duties with her face covered in bandages after an injury.
However, propagandist Jackson Hinkle shared the viral picture on X and wrote, “Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by an ISRAELI GRENADE in East Jersualem. Was Hamas hiding in her face?”
🚨🇮🇱 Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by an ISRAELI GRENADE in East Jersualem
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) November 6, 2023
Was Hamas hiding in her face? pic.twitter.com/2DcBqx0gsJ
Islamist activist Syed Zameer Abbas Jaffri shared the viral picture on X and wrote, “The Heroes of Gaza, Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by ‘Israeli grenade’ in East Jersualem. Was Hamas hiding in her face?”
The Heroes of Gaza
— Syed Zameer Abbas Jaffri (@me_zameerjaffri) November 5, 2023
Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by ‘Israeli grenade’ in East Jersualem
Was Hamas hiding in her face? pic.twitter.com/hRzeIxgeHv
Another Islamist Propagandist named Fauzi shared the viral picture on X and wrote, “RESPECT. She is really a lion.. Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by an ISRAELI GRENADE in East Jerusalem.”
RESPECT. She is really a lion..
— Fauzi (@lifespectrums) November 6, 2023
Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by an ISRAELI GRENADE in East Jersualem.#FreePalestineNow pic.twitter.com/tOHGuCLo97
Apart from this, propagandists Sheree and Andrew Forsberg also shared the viral picture on X and made similar claims.
Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by ‘Israeli grenade’ in East Jersualem
— sheree (@tinyfleu) November 5, 2023
Was Hamas hiding in her face? pic.twitter.com/TrQKrwn2rT
🚨🇮🇱 Journalist Hana Mahameed back on screen after being hit in face by an ISRAELI GRENADE in East Jersualem
— ANDREW FORSBERG 🇬ðŸ‡ðŸ‡¸ðŸ‡ª (@akillis21) November 6, 2023
Was Hamas hiding in her face?#Palestine #HamasTerrorists #INDvsSA #zerodha #ولعت #srilankacricketboard #INDvSA #AttackonTitanFinalSeason #ZEROBASEONE #CRUSH… pic.twitter.com/2pG13XJ061
From the tweets you’ve seen, it’s clear that all of them are trying to convey a similar message: that the female reporter suffered recent injuries from an Israeli grenade amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in East Jerusalem.
So, is it true that the female reporter in the viral picture was hit in the face by an Israeli grenade in east Jerusalem amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas? let’s Fact Check
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Fact Check
In all the above tweets regarding Hana Mahameed’s incident, there’s a recurring community note that claims the event took place in 2015. This note has added a layer of suspicion and raised pertinent questions about the veracity of the claims made in the earlier tweets. So, taking a cue from that we decided to do a reverse image search of the viral picture to ascertain its authenticity. During this, we made an intriguing discovery. We stumbled upon a report by The Guardian, which was originally published on October 5, 2015. This report featured a video that caught our attention. In this video, we observed the very same female reporter depicted in the viral picture. She was Arab-Israeli TV journalist Hanna Mahameed. Notably, the video captured a moment at the 8-second mark, showcasing Mahameed on camera despite having suffered a facial injury from a stun grenade.
However, according to this report, Tributes were paid to the bravery of Arab-Israeli TV journalist Hanna Mahameed, who went on air shortly after being hit in the face by a stun grenade during a clash between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in east Jerusalem. According to Israeli police, the clash took place while forces were detaining the father of a Palestinian teenager who had stabbed and wounded an Israeli teen early on Sunday before being shot dead by police.
During our investigation, we came across another report, this time from The Independent, published on October 5, 2015, which shed further light on the viral picture of the injured reporter. This report identified the individual in the image as Hana Mahameed, an Arab-Israeli reporter working for Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV. According to The Independent, Mahameed appeared on screen with bandages covering much of her face and neck, following an incident where she was struck by a sound grenade, allegedly fired by Israeli officers during a clash between Israeli police and demonstrators in East Jerusalem.
According to Israeli police, the clash took place while forces were detaining the father of a Palestinian teenager, Fadi Alloun, 19, who was accused of stabbing an Israeli teen early Sunday before being shot dead by police.
Continuing our investigation, we uncovered another report, this time from DNA India, published on October 5, 2015. This report also shares the same picture which is viral on the social media. According to this report, a journalist named Hana Mahamaid was shot in her face with a stun grenade from a close distance in east Jerusalem went back to reporting soon after the incident.
Hence, all these points prove that the female reporter featured in the viral picture is indeed Hana Mahameed. However, it’s crucial to note that the incident of her being injured by an Israeli grenade is not recent, as claimed by the above X handlers. In fact, this incident dates back eight years and is unrelated to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
| Claim | The female reporter in the viral picture was hit in the face by an Israeli grenade recently |
| Claimed by | Jackson Hinkle, Syed Zameer Abbas Jaffri, MEHMED, Sheree, Andrew Forsberg etc |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
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