A video showing a child eating grass is viral on social media platforms with captions falsely linking it to the ongoing situation of food shortage in Gaza, following months of airstrikes from Israel.
BOOM found that the video predates the current escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, which began on October 7, 2023, and is thus unrelated to the fallout of Israel's airstrikes on the region which has led to the ongoing food crisis in Gaza.
Gaza is currently facing unprecedented levels of food shortage, following months of retaliatory bombings by Israel in response to Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, which has killed over 24,000 Palestinians. South Africa has recently taken Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of committing genocide against the Palestinian people. South Africa filed its case against Israel under the Genocide Convention on December 29, 2023. The post is being shared in this backdrop.
The video is being shared with a caption saying, "THIS IS SO FVCKD UP A Palestinian child is seen eating grass. This is why South Africa took the US backed Israel to court. This is why the myth of western "Human Rights & Dignity died in Gaza".
Click here to view the post.
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM ran reverse image search on some of the keyframes extracted from the viral video which led us to the same video being uploaded on the internet since February 2022.
One of the search results led us to the same video, uploaded on Facebook on February 25, 2022. However, the post lacked additional contextual information about the video, such as its filming location and date.
Click here to view the post.
After conducting a keyword search related to the scenes depicted in the video, we discovered various Facebook and YouTube posts from the same time claiming it to be from Syria.
However, none of these posts provided further context, nor did they provide a credible source for the claim of it being shot in Syria.
While BOOM could not independently verify the time and location of the video in circulation, our fact-check establishes that the video has been circulating online for over 20 months before the current escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and is thus unrelated to the ongoing food crisis in Gaza.