Claim: A video shows an Israeli tank running over a car with at least one passenger in Palestine.
Fact: The video is from Ukraine and has nothing to do with Israel.
On 24 December 2023, the Instagram account @kashaf_ul_khair20 posted a video (archive) showing a tanker, allegedly belonging to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), purposely running over a car coming from the other direction.
@kashaf_ul_khair20 wrote, “Ya Allah Reham farmain 😱😢 [Oh God, have mercy 😱😢],” and included three hashtags — “#astagfirullah,” “#bycottisraeliproducts,” and “#stopgenocideinpalestine.”
In one of the hashtags, the Arabic word Astagfirullah translates to “I seek forgiveness from God” in English.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check ran keyframes from the viral clip as input in reverse image search tools and found that the video is unrelated to Israel’s war against Hamas.
The video reportedly shows a Russian tanker that ran over the vehicle in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The two countries have been at war (archive) since 24 February 2022.
Read more: Was Israeli army chief captured, subjected to violence?
According to The Sun (archive), the video was reportedly shot in the city’s Obolon district and “shows the armoured vehicle moving erratically through the streets of Kyiv”, apparently being driven by “pro-Russian ‘saboteurs’ – who also stole a military truck before they were killed by soldiers”.
The publication identified the tank as a Strela-10, an anti-aircraft vehicle that both the Russian and Ukrainian armies use. The man inside it survived and was freed by locals, it added.
A comparison visual comprising a screenshot from the viral post (left) and images available in The Sun’s report (centre and right)
The footage was also shared by the verified YouTube channel WarLeaks – Military Blog on 25 February 2022.
Also read: Pakistani government officials falsely deny selling arms to Ukraine
Sky News reported (archive) that it had multiple “verified” videos of the incident, which took place “about 10km north of the Ukrainian parliament building”.
Related: Live video of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is actually from a video game
Virality
The video posted by @kashaf_ul_khair20 has gained more than 42,000 views on Instagram as of the time of writing. We also found that the clip was shared here (archive) by @faithful_fusion_life and viewed close to 1,500 times.
Conclusion: The video shows a Russian tanker running over a car in Ukraine and has nothing to do with the Israel-Hamas war. The footage emerged first in February 2022.
Background image in cover photo: Elimende Inagella
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