Old image from Turkey shared as Gaza man holding hand of his child killed by an Israeli bomb

The viral image shows a father holding the hand of his daughter, who died in an earthquake in Turkey in February 2023

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine, Israel’s military has bombed another United Nations-run school as well as an Israeli-designed “safe-zone” in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 42 Palestinians and wounding dozens of others. Following this, an image of a person wearing an orange jacket holding a hand sticking out of rubble has been shared, claiming that it is a Palestinian father holding the hand of his deceased child who was killed by Israeli bombing.

The caption of the post states, “A FATHER HOLDING THE HAND OF HIS DEAD CHILD STUCK UNDER THE RUBBLE OF HIS HOUSE KILLED BY ISRAELI BOMBING THIS IS HEARTBREAKING”

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Fact Check- 

We started the investigation with a reverse image search on Google and we found several news reports regarding this image. These reports stated that the image shows Mesut Hancer holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter, Irmak, who had died in the earthquake that hit Kahramanmaraş, a city in Turkey, on February 7. According to the Guardian report, Altan captured this image after traveling from Ankara, Turkey’s capital, to Kahramanmaraş. He came across a collapsed apartment complex where he observed Hancer, in an orange coat, quietly holding the hand of his daughter Irmak, who had died in her bed when the quake struck.

The photographer explained, “When I noticed he was holding a hand, I started taking photos.” Hançer then asked Altan to photograph his child, who also asked for their names. Hancer identified himself as Mesut Hancer and stated his daughter’s name as Irmak. 

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Upon further search, we found the same image on stock image website, Getty Images. It was credited to Adem Altan of the Agence France-Presse. There are multiple similar photographs of the scene from different angles.

Getty Images.

Taking account of these evidences we can say that the image is old and unrelated to the ongoing Israel Palestine conflict.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral image to be False. The viral image shows a father holding the hand of his daughter, who died in an earthquake in Turkey in February 2023

The image is old and unrelated, falsely shared as recent image linking it to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.