Home False: Israel named its fighter jet ‘Soumya’ after a Kerala woman who died in an attack in Hamas.

False: Israel named its fighter jet ‘Soumya’ after a Kerala woman who died in an attack in Hamas.

By: Khagesh KG

June 8 2021

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False: Israel named its fighter jet ‘Soumya’ after a Kerala woman who died in an attack in Hamas.

Fact-Check

The Verdict False

The viral picture was a morphed image of a Chinese fighter jet J-10C.

The viral picture was a morphed image of a Chinese fighter jet J-10C.On May 11, 2021, Soumya Santosh, an Indian woman from Kerala died after a rocket fired by Hamas fell on her apartment in Ashkelon in Israel. According to a Times of India report, Soumya was a caretaker by profession and hailed from Kerala's Idukki district. Following her death, an image of a jet with 'Soumya' written on the side was widely shared on Twitter and Facebook, claiming that Israel paid tribute to Soumya by attacking the Palestinian army chief's residence with a fighter jet having her name engraved on it. We did a Google reverse image search of the viral image and found that the image is a Chinese fighter jet. The photo appeared on several Chinese news websites in 2020. A 'World Defense' website also carried the image, describing the jet as J-10C Vigorous Dragon "Firebird" of the Chinese Airforce People Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Hence, an image of J-10C, a Chinese fighter jet from 2020, was morphed and shared with a false claim that Israel paid tribute to the Indian woman who lost her life in the recent violence. Meanwhile, on May 21, 2021, Israel and Hamas claimed victory, and a ceasefire came into force in the Gaza Strip, halting the conflict.

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