Fact Check: Old Images Peddled As Recent Linked With Gaza Hospital Blast

MOHALI: In the early morning of October 18, 2023, news of the death of hundreds of people in a massive explosion in a hospital in the Gaza Strip came to light. Health department of Gaza claims that the attack was carried out by Israel and that about 500 people have been killed. However, Israel denied the allegation and claimed that the attack was carried out by Hamas on its own hospital in Gaza.

After the news broke, social media was flooded with pictures and videos about the incident. Similarly, some old video-pictures also went viral regarding this matter. In the same, a post about the matter is going viral, which includes 3 pictures.

* In the first picture, dead bodies can be seen inside a chamber.

* In the second picture, a person is being carried on a stretcher.

* In the third picture, the bodies of children can be seen.

It is being claimed that these pictures are related to the hospital explosion in Gaza.

The Facebook page "Social Concerns" shared the viral pictures and claimed these images from Gaza Hospital Blast.

Spokesman in it's investigation found the viral post misleading. Out of these three pictures, the 2 pictures are not recent but old and have nothing to do with the hospital blast in Gaza.

Spokesman's Investigation.....

We started debunking these images one by one:

-- The first picture (the first picture shows the bodies inside a chamber)

The first picture is recent. With Google reverse image search we found this image published in several recent reports. news.abs-cbn shared this picture as its main news of October 18, 2023 and informed that 200 people have died in the explosion at the hospital in Gaza. Media organization has shared this picture with reference to AFP.

-- Second picture (second picture shows a person being carried on a stretcher)

The second picture is old. We found this picture shared in a report published by Al-Jazeera on September 13, 2023. Sharing this picture, the caption was written, "Palestinians carry the body of one of the men killed during an explosion near the border fence with Israel on September 13, 2023 outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. [Mahmud Hams/AFP]"

According to the news, this photo was taken by AFP journalist Mohammed Hams on site location when civilians were carrying the body of a man killed in an explosion near the Israel-Palestine border. The image is said to be outside Al-Shifa Hospital and is officially dated September 13, 2023.

-- Third picture (in the 3rd picture bodies of small children can be seen)

The third picture is from 2013. Through Google reverse image we found this picture published in an article of National Geographic dated 14 September 2013. Sharing this picture, the caption was written, "Children lie among the dead outside of Damascus, Syria, on August 21 shortly after they succumbed to chemical weapon poisoning."

Hence, it is clear that the 2 pictures used in the viral post are old.

Conclusion – Spokesman in it's investigation found the viral post misleading. Out of these three pictures, the 2 pictures are not recent but old and have nothing to do with the hospital blast in Gaza.