A photo of two young girls from Gaza closing their ears and crying during an Israel airstrike is viral with false claims that it is from Afghanistan post Taliban taking over the country.
BOOM found that the photo was first shared in May 2021 by a Palestine resident claiming it shows her young cousins aged 7 and 5 feeling distressed by the sound of airstrikes on Gaza.
The photo has been shared by several Pakistani accounts on Facebook and Twitter with the claim that children in Kabul are crying after hearing gunshots and the violence in Kabul, Afghanistan.
As Taliban inches closer to officially forming a goverment in Afghanistan, reports are emerging of celebratory firing into the air by the militant group. According to a report by the Associated Press, two people died and at least 12 injured on Friday night after some Taliban men fired into the air to celebrate taking over Afghanistan. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) raised concerns about the condition of children in Afghanistan with George Laryea-Adjei, Regional Director for UNICEF South Asia, saying, "children have paid the heaviest price in recent weeks of increased conflict and insecurity."
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The photo was also tweeted by a senior editor of India Tv News
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FACT CHECK
A reverse image search on the photo showed a May 12, 2021 tweet by Ramy Abdu, founder of Euro-Mediterreanean Human Rights Monitor, from his verified handle claiming the photo is from Gaza.
A further search with the keyword Kabul + Children + Israel airstrike led us to a tweet by a Tala Shurrab a student originally from Palestine. Shurrab tweeted the photo on May 12, 2021 saying it shows her young cousins in Gaza being scared of the Israeli airstrikes.
Shurrab's tweet was captioned, "my two little cousins aged 7 and 5 in #غزة terrified of the Israeli's airstrikes. I don't know what to say .. i really don't .. Children in Ghazza are born to live through continuous and escalating trauma"
View the tweet here. We also found the same photo shared by Shurrab on her Facebook account. See here BOOM has reached out to Shurrab and will update the copy upon a response.
We also found news stories about increased airstikes by Israel in Gaza on May 11, 2021 when tensions between Palestine and Israel were at a peak. According to a report in CNN dated May 12, 2021, Israeli bombing raids across Gaza killed at least 35 people, including 12 children.