Claim: A picture shows a Palestinian boy who lost his legs due to Israel’s bombing.
Fact: The picture shows a Lebanese boy who lost his legs in 2006.
On 28 December 2023, X (formerly Twitter) user @ShaykhSulaiman posted (archive) a picture of a child with amputated legs and wrote, “THEY TOOK THIS CHILD’S LEGS.”
@ShaykhSulaiman — who describes himself on X as an “Investigative Journalist” based in the United Kingdom — has been profusely posting content pertaining to Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. Apparently affiliated with “The Roundtable Show,” he has shared misleading content in the past as well.
What’s going on in Gaza?
On 7 October 2023, the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades — the military wing of Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza — launched (archive) a “surprise attack” on Israel via sea, land, and air. In response, the Israeli government formally declared (archive) war on Hamas on 8 October 2023.
According to a 19 December 2023 update by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 19,600 Palestinians have been killed and over 52,500 injured since the 7 October attack. Similarly, at least 1,200 Israelis have been killed and upwards of 5,400 injured.
Ever since the October 7 attack, a flood of misleading, old, and out of context pictures, videos, and claims have surfaced in the media.
Fact or Fiction?
A reverse-image search led us to the website of The Electronic Intifada, a digital publication focusing its reporting on the Israel-Palestine war.
The Electronic Intifada article (archive) — titled, “Australian Delegation Visits Cluster-Bombed Areas of Lebanon, Calls for Ban,” and published on 23 January 2007 — carries the image of the boy with amputated legs. The accompanying caption is as follows:
“Twelve-year-old Mohamed Samer Elhaz Mouss, photographed in October 2006, was injured by Israeli cluster bomblets delivered by Israeli warplanes during the recent Israeli aggression on Lebanon. On 9 August 2006, in the Rashidieh Camp outside of Sour, Mohamed was running from attacking Israeli warplanes and hid behind a tree where he came into contact with unexploded bomblets. (Sam Costanza)”
The image also appeared on a webpage here (archive) from 2009, further proving that it is neither recent nor related to Palestine.
Therefore, not only is the image old, but it does not show a Palestinian boy either; in fact, it depicts a Lebanese boy who lost his legs due to the Israeli bombing of Lebanon in 2006.
Virality
The post by @ShaykhSulaiman has gained more than 42,000 views as of writing time. It was also shared by @DrLoupis (archive) — another account that regularly shares content on Palestine — where it was viewed over 47,000 times.
@DrLoupis captioned their tweet as follows: “Hi @Israel 🇮🇱 Was this kid a “Hamas Terrorist” since you took both legs?”
This is not the first time the image has been passed off as that of a Palestinian victim of Israel’s bombing. Soch Fact Check found that it was shared with this claim in August 2020 on Facebook and September 2020 on X.
Conclusion: The picture does not show a Palestinian but a Lebanese boy who lost his legs during Israel’s bombing of Lebanon in 2006.
Background image in cover photo: Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com
[…] affiliated with “The Roundtable Show” have previously posted misleading content about the Israel-Hamas war and the recent Houthi […]