No, photo doesn’t show Gaza man holding hand of son killed in Israeli bombing

What's the claim?

An image is circulating on social media alongside false claims that it shows a father in Gaza mourning his son who was killed in an Israeli bombing. The image shows a man in an orange jacket sitting amid rubble, holding the hand of someone buried underneath. The posts use hashtags like #Gaza and #Israeli_bombing in the context of the Israel-Hamas war.

On X (formerly Twitter), the image has been widely shared with captions such as, "This is not from a movie. This is the reality in #Gaza.. A father holds his son's hand, killed in #Israeli_bombing, trapped under their collapsed home!" One such post has garnered approximately 383,500 views. Archives of the posts can be found here, here, here, and here.

Similar narratives have surfaced on Facebook, with archived posts available here and here.

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

However, the photo actually shows a man called Mesut Hancer holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter, Irmak, who died in the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, on February 7, 2023. It is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

What we found

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found that several news outlets had published a wider version of the same photograph in February 2023, showing more of the surrounding devastation and debris. These reports stated that the image shows Mesut Hancer holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter, Irmak, who had died in the earthquake that hit Kahramanmaraş, a city in Turkey, on February 7.

We found the same photograph on Getty Images credited to Adem Altan of the Agence France-Presse. There are multiple similar photos of the scene from different angles on Getty Images.

Screenshot of images from Getty Images shows Mesut Hancer holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, who lost her life in the earthquake near the epicenter in Kahramanmaras. (Source: Getty Images)

Contrary to claims, the image does not originate from Gaza and does not depict a father holding the hand of his son, who was purportedly killed in an Israeli bombing and trapped under the rubble of their house.

More about the image

In 2023, The Guardian reported that Altan captured the photograph after traveling from Ankara, Turkey's capital, to Kahramanmaraş. He came across a collapsed apartment complex where he observed Hancer, in an orange coat, quietly holding the hand of his daughter Irmak, who had died in her bed when the quake struck.

The photographer explained, "When I noticed he was holding a hand, I started taking photos." Hançer then asked Altan to photograph his child, who also asked for their names. Hançer identified himself as Mesut Hançer and stated his daughter's name as Irmak. 

We also found that Altan had posted a similar image on his Instagram (archived here) in February 2023, accompanied by a caption in Turkish that translated to: "UNBEARABLE PAIN... He never left the hand of his daughter Irmak, who died in the earthquake.”

In an interview with CNN Turk, Hancer said: "I didn't have hope because there was a large girder on my daughter. Her waist up was free, but below her waist, she was under the rubble. Unfortunately, during the earthquake, she died right there and then. She didn't have a chance of survival." 

Turkey-Syria earthquakes in 2023

On February 6, 2023, a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria. More than 570 aftershocks followed within 24 hours, including a magnitude 7.5 tremor north of the original epicenter in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, reported The Associated Press. The earthquake caused widespread destruction and claimed over 59,000 lives.

The earthquake was the most devastating to hit earthquake-prone Turkey in more than 20 years, causing widespread destruction and loss of life.

The verdict

The widely circulated image, purportedly depicting a father and son in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, actually shows a man holding the hand of his daughter, who died during the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, on February 7, 2023.