Image of Cairo Tower displaying Palestine flag is digitally altered

What is the claim?

An image of the Cairo Tower is being shared on social media, claiming it displayed the Palestine flag in support amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. A Facebook user (archive here) shared the same image and wrote, “Cairo Tower is decorated with the Palestinian flag.” The same image was shared on X (formerly Twitter) as well. The archive of the posts can be found here.

Screenshot of viral posts shared online. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshots/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is false. The image of the Cairo Tower is digitally altered. 

What we found

Through a reverse image search, we found a similar picture of the Cairo Tower posted by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), a non-profit organization. According to the site’s ‘About’ page, it explores "urbanization and designs of buildings." The image was attributed to Ahmed Santos.

A comparison showed many similarities between the two images, including the moon's position, the color of the sky in the background, and the trees at the bottom of the image. However, the image on CTBUH did not have the Palestinian flag.

Comparison of CTBUH image and viral image. (Source: X/CTBUH/Screenshots)

We also found the original image of the tower on Wikimedia Commons, and the description reads: “Cairo Tower at Night.” The image was attributed to Ahmed Santos here as well. The image's metadata shows the image was uploaded on February 3, 2010, at 9:08 p.m. using a NIKON D80 model camera. A blog called Bulb America also cited the same image on October 12, 2010, and credited Ahmed Santos (Ahmedsantos).

Screenshot of Wikimedia Commons page. (Source: Wikimedia/Screenshot)

Officially, Egypt has offered aid and evacuations of foreign passport holders from Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, the crossing between the two countries is not in operation owing to the airstrikes by Israel on Gaza. There are no recent reports of the Cairo Tower displaying the Palestine flag in Cairo, Egypt. 

The verdict

A 2010 image of Cairo Tower pictured at night has been digitally manipulated to add the Palestinian flag on it. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.