2023 video shared with false claim that it is the final moments of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh

(Trigger warning: The following article contains distressing visuals; reader discretion is advised.)

What's the claim?

A clip showing an injured man with bloodstains on his face and clothes has been widely shared on social media, suggesting that it depicts the final moments of Hamas' leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

The 24-second video on social media shows a man in a grey shirt pointing his finger and speaking in Arabic. The clip also features someone cleaning blood from his mouth and another preparing an injection, with some other people in the background.

Haniyeh was a key figure in Hamas' international diplomacy. On July 31, while in Tehran, Iran, for President Masoud Pezeshkian's inauguration, Haniyeh was reportedly killed by a "short-range projectile" fired from outside the guesthouse where he was staying, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), though reports on the manner of his death vary.

On X, formerly Twitter, the video was shared with the caption: "Just moments before martyrdom, the last words of shaheed Ismail Haniya (may Allah have mercy on him). #ismailhaniye." One such X post has received about 48,600 views. Archived versions of the posts are here and here.

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

The video was also shared on Facebook with similar claims. Archived versions of such posts are here, here, and here. 

However, this video is neither recent nor of Ismail Haniyeh. It reportedly shows a Palestinian man injured in Gaza in November 2023.

What we found

By conducting a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video, we found a post from November 6, 2023, on the official account of Rassd Oman (archived here), a media organization in Oman. The Arabic caption of the post translates to: "He was bleeding... A Palestinian raised his index finger high and chanted, 'We are all with the resistance... a steadfastness that you will only find in Gaza.' #Gaza_resists and will win."

Screenshot of the post from Rassd Oman on the X platform. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

Logically Facts contacted Rassd Oman, and a representative from the organization said the video is from 2023.

The same video was also shared on Instagram (archived here) by Palestinian journalist Mohammed Obeid, who frequently posts videos of Palestinians injured in Israeli attacks.

On November 6, 2023, he shared the clip with a caption in Arabic that translates to: "We are all sacrifices for the resistance. The mukhtar of the Aqilan family, this is what he said after the martyrdom of his children in the Beach camp." Al-Shati, also known as Shati or Beach Camp, is a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

Logically Facts has also contacted Obeid for clarification, and this fact check will be updated upon receiving a response.

While we haven't been able to verify the video independently, its presence online since 2023 confirms that it predates the recent assassination of Hamas leader Haniyeh in Tehran, making it unrelated to his recent killing.

Haniyeh's final known words

Reports about the circumstances of Haniyeh's death vary. The New York Times report, citing seven Middle Eastern officials, states that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb that had been smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying.

In contrast, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya claimed that Haniyeh was struck directly by a missile while in the building, quoting witnesses, according to Reuters.

BBC News reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also said Haniyeh was killed by a "short-range projectile" fired from outside the guest house where he was staying in Tehran. 

While there is no known video capturing the exact moments of Haniyeh's death, his final known words were a Quranic passage delivered during his address to Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Ali Khamenei. This statement was broadcast on television and reported by Reuters.

Haniyeh said, "It is Allah who gives life and causes death, and Allah is all-aware of all actions. If a leader leaves, another will arise."

The verdict

The video is neither recent nor of Ismail Haniyeh. It reportedly shows an injured man in Gaza from November 2023 and has been falsely presented as depicting Haniyeh's last moments.