Kashif Arsalaan, the fake news peddler and rabid hate monger sitting in a foreign land who frequently spews venom against the Hindu community, posted two images (Archived link) on his X account, one of a Hamas terrorist laughing with a child and the other of Israeli force detaining a child, and he attempted to label the latter as terrorists. The sole purpose of posting these two images was to conceal terror acts committed by Hamas terrorists, who recently killed 40 jews babies, and to portray Israeli forces as inflicting atrocities on Palestinian children. Rashid Maarouf, another account, also shared the same images (Archived link) for the same purpose along with the caption, “Hamas does not kill children. We only kill officers and soldiers and everyone who participates in killing the children of Gaza.”
Who is terrorist?#FreeGaza #PalestineUnderAttack #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #palastine #Palestine #FreePalaestine #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/10EbpLrXdZ
— Kashif Arsalaan (@KashifArsalaan) October 12, 2023
Hamas does not kill children. We only kill officers and soldiers and everyone who participates in killing the children of Gaza#IsraelPalestineWar#Israel#HamasisISIS pic.twitter.com/GuM41iku8x
— راشد معروف (@RashidMaarouf) October 10, 2023
Fact Check
During our fact-checking, we discovered that both photographs had nothing to do with the recent continuing tensions in Israel and Gaza. To begin our investigation, we conducted a Google reverse image search of the images and discovered that the first image depicting a Hamas terrorist smiling with a child was first shared on May 29, 2021, by the X user @/adham922 who wrote a caption with this picture that reads, “You can comment.. #صورة_اليوم A people that embraces the resistance…and a resistance that protects the people.” He made no mention of the child being Israeli.
لكم التعليق.. #صورة_اليوم
— أدهم أبو سلمية #غزة 🇵🇸 (@adham922) May 29, 2021
شعب يحتضن المقاومة.. ومقاومة تحمي الشعب pic.twitter.com/62s4EtrxEk
On June 2, 2021, the same image was shared by X user @/khaledSafi (Archived link), who captioned it, “I need to read your comments on this photo Especially in children’s view of a man #المقاومة In order to compare it with what was reported by the Zionist Arab media!” According to the caption, the photo was taken during a military parade at Nuseirat camp by Attia Darwish. Again, there was no mention of the kid being Israeli.
أحتاج أقرأ تعليقاتكم على هذه الصورة
— خالد صافي #فلسطين 🇵🇸 (@KhaledSafi) June 1, 2021
خاصة في نظرة الأطفال إلى رجل #المقاومة
كي أقارنها مع ما ورد على لسان الإعلام العربي المتصهين!
الصورة بعدسة عطية درويش من العرض العسكري في مخيم النصيرات بعد اندحار العدوان عن #غزة pic.twitter.com/QnKuBRGz9I
Furthermore, after conducting a reverse image search for the second image, we discovered a Middle East Eye report dated January 9, 2019. The child in the photograph is identified as Omar Rimawi, according to the article. When he was 14 years old, he was imprisoned for stabbing and murdering an Israeli settler in an occupied West Bank grocery. The image is nearly 4 years old and has nothing to do with Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas.
Hence, the images circulated by propagandist such as Kashif Arsalaan are misleading, as they were shared with the intent of glorifying and downplaying the actions of Hamas militants who recently went on a killing over 42 babies.
| Claim | Images of Hamas smiling apparently with an Israeli child and Israeli forces detaining a Palestinian child are from the recent ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. |
| Claimed by | Kashif Arsalaan and Rashid Maarouf |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
Also Read: Fact Check: Viral Image of Tragic Scene in Gaza Exposed as 10-Year-Old Photo from Syria!
