Recently, social media users shared photos of some tunnels linking them to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. It is claimed that the images depict the Hamas tunnel system, with the Israel Defense Force being quoted as saying that the 1300-tunnel network, located 80 metres below the ground in Gaza, spans over 500 kilometres. Hamas operatives allegedly use these tunnels to accomplish different tasks.
Mario Nawfal of The Roundtable Show also shared the images and made a similar claim, describing the tunnel system as having eight different levels. (Archived link)
🚨 BREAKING: HAMAS TUNNEL SYSTEM EXPOSED – 1300 TUNNELS | SPANNING 500km | 80 METERS UNDERGROUND
Recent Situational Reports exchanged between the U.S. and Israel, obtained by our team, have provided unprecedented insights into the tunnel system beneath Gaza.
The IDF estimates… pic.twitter.com/9WzeEPWcMC
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 14, 2023
Israeli author and founder of Behold Israel Amir Tsarfati amplified the same claim on his Telegram channel, which garnered more than 2 lakh views. Amir has more than 4.67 lakh followers on Telegram. (Archived link)
Jewish news outlet VIN News also made a similar claim in an article. (Archived link)
Fact Check
Alt News cropped these photos, which were originally shared as a collage, and performed a reverse image search of each. We discovered that these were old pictures and had no connection to the recent Israel-Palestine conflict. We have numbered the images to illustrate which image was carried in which article and have highlighted their dates in red circles. We noticed that the oldest of these pictures was from 2011, while the most recent was from 2018. In other words, none of these images are related to the recent Israel-Palestine conflict. Given below are the dates and links to the articles where these photos are available.
First image (2018) – i24 News
Second image (2014) – The Jerusalem Post
Third image (2011) – The Jerusalem Post
Fourth image (2015) – The Times of Israel
Fifth image (2014) – The Times of Israel
Sixth image (2014) – Voice Of America
To sum it up, a collage of old images was falsely circulated in connection with the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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