The Image Of Israeli Soldiers Are Going Viral With Misleading Claims.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed and 58 injured in a drone strike by Hezbollah targeting an army base in northern Israel on 13 October 2024. Against this backdrop, an image of a few soldiers sitting on the floor with their heads down went viral on social media claiming it to be an image of Israeli soldiers crying after the Hezbollah attack. Sharing the image on Facebook, users wrote, "BREAKING: ISRAELI soldiers are reportedly “crying, a lot,” as predicted by Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah before his martyrdom".
Facebook Link | Archived Link.
Similar posts can be seen here and here. Archived Link.
However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was misleading. The image is old and it has nothing to do with the recent attack on the IDF by Hezbollah. Here's the fact check.
Fact Check
We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search on Tin Eye. This led us to the stock image website Alamy where the viral image could be seen. The description of the image read, "Israeli army soldiers wait as army specialists inspect a tunnel found in a house during an army operation at the Rafah refugee camp, adjacent to the Palestinian town of Rafah, next to the Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip early Saturday April 3, 2004. The Israeli army periodically finds and destroys tunnels used, according to the army, by Palestinian militants to smuggle weapons and explosives from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, Pool)".
According to the 'image details' section, the photo was taken on 3 April 2004 by Oded Balilty for Associated Press.
Moving forward, we found the image on the Associated Press website. According to the description, "Israeli army soldiers wait as army specialists inspect a tunnel found in a house during an army operation at the Rafah refugee camp, adjacent to the Palestinian town of Rafah, next to the Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip early Saturday April 3, 2004. The Israeli army periodically finds and destroys tunnels used, according to the army, by Palestinian militants to smuggle weapons and explosives from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, Pool)".
Further, we found a documentary by BBC with the headline, "Archive: Israeli soldiers search for tunnels in Gaza (2004)".
Please read here. Archived Link.
Reports published on NBC News and Al Jazeera can be read here and here.
This makes it clear that the viral image is old and unrelated to the recent attack on IDF by Hezbollah.
Conclusion
From our investigation, we can say that the claim is misleading. The image of Israeli soldiers sitting on the floor with their heads down is old and it has no link to the recent attack on IDF by Hezbollah.
