Claim: A video from Hezbollah’s social media shows the terror group’s members and their supporters attempting to climb over the fence and enter Israel amidst the recent Israel-Palestine war. Other versions claim the video shows Lebanese civilians climbing the fence in an attempt to reach Gaza, while others claim it shows Gazan citizens trying to climb the fence in an attempt to reach Egypt.
Fact: The video shows Lebanese civilians trying to scale the Palestinian border in May 2021.
Since 13 October 2023, several posts on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram shared the video claiming it shows Hezbollah “terrorists and their supporters are trying to climb over the fence and enter Israeli territory” or “people advancing on the fence on the #Lebanon-#Israel border”.
On 18 October, another version of the claim was shared on Instagram by an Indian politician, who alleged that the video shows “a 36 feet high fence” erected by Egypt to prevent “Muslims from entering its territory.” But the “Muslims of #Gaza” are now attempting to enter Egyptian territory “by crossing the high fence.”
Background
On 7 October 2023, the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, launched a “surprise attack” on Israel via sea, land, and air. In response, the Israeli government formally declared war on Gaza on 8 October 2023.
At least 1,162 fatalities have been reported in Israel, while health officials reported that more than 10,818 people have been killed in Gaza, Palestine, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). As of 9 November 2023, the report noted that an additional 2,650 people, including 1,400 children, may still be trapped under the rubble.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-image-searched the keyframes from this video, and we found that it was first published on Twitter on 17 May 2021 with the caption:
“Attack on titan❎ Attack on Israel❎
” Lebanon at the Palestinian border”
…….
#لبنانين_لن_أرحل
#GazaUnderAttak
#غزة_تحت_القضف
#IsraelTerrorism
#PalestineBleeding
#FreePalestine”
This clarified that the video does not show any events from the ongoing Israel-Hamas escalation.
We then searched the keywords “Lebanese”, “border”, “Gaza”, limiting our search to May 2021. This led to a report published by CNN Arabia on 17 May 2021, with the title “Anger on the Lebanese-Israeli border due to the events in Gaza.. Watch what happened.” The report shows several Lebanese demonstrators cutting wires, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and trying to climb a 25-foot high concrete wall to install Palestinian flags on top.
We also found photographs of the same protest from different angles published by Reuters here, here, here, and here, confirming that these were from the Israel-Palestine/Lebanon border from 2021. These images were taken by Aziz Taher on 15 May 2021: “Demonstrators gather during a protest to express solidarity with the Palestinian people, in Adaisseh village near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon May 15, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher”
According to an article on the website of the Council of Foreign Relations, an Israeli court ruled in October 2020 that Palestinian families living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem were to be evicted by Jewish families by May 2021. In response to the ruling, protests were held, and the Israeli government used grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons on peaceful protestors.
Sheikh Jarrah was a historically Palestinian neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem where 38 Palestinian families lived before May 2021, when Israeli courts first ordered the eviction of thirteen Palestinian families living there. This decision was made on the basis of an assumption that the land belonged to Sephardic Jews in the time of the Ottoman Empire.
Lebanese civilians decided to protest against the Israeli court ruling to have Palestinian families evicted from Sheikh Jarrah. The video in the claim shows scenes from the protest when civilians tried to climb the fenced wall. Al Jazeera even reported that one Lebanese man was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.
Virality
On Instagram, we found posts which shared the video here and here. The video was also widely shared on Facebook here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: An old video from May 2021 shows Lebanese protesters trying to climb the border between Lebanon and Israel-Palestine. This video has nothing to do with the current crisis in Gaza.
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