Old image of a Palestinian youth being run over by an Israeli vehicle shared as recent

Context

On June 4, 2023, the Quds News Network, a media outlet focused on Palestinian affairs, tweeted a claim that a Palestinian child was reportedly run over by an Israeli military vehicle during an army raid in Beit Furik, located in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. According to local sources, the tweet also mentions that the child is currently being treated at a hospital in Nablus and is in stable condition. The tweet gained significant attention, with 30, 100 views and 434 likes.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long-standing and complex dispute rooted in competing national aspirations and territorial claims. The conflict involves political, historical, and religious dimensions, making it highly sensitive and emotionally charged for Israelis and Palestinians. The claim surfaced after the death of a three-year-old Palestinian toddler who was hit by Israeli army gunfire and died on June 6, 2023. The BBC and The Guardian have covered this story.

In Fact

We conducted a reverse image search on the image used in the tweet and found that the picture is from October 9, 2010. The Guardian used the same image with a caption describing an incident where an Israeli motorist ran down a masked Palestinian youth who was among a group throwing stones at Israeli cars in the neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem. The boy's condition was described as stable in the original report. The original image was published on Getty Images on October 8, 2010. It is important to note that the location mentioned in the tweet, Beit Furik, differs from the actual incident. Photographer llia Yefimovich captured the image for the AFP in East Jerusalem's Silwan district. Further investigation and searching Getty Images showed identical photos from the same incident. 

Al Jazeera shared the same video in a report uploaded to its YouTube channel on October 9, 2010. The video description reads, "The leader of an Israeli settler organization has hit two Palestinian boys with his car after they hurled stones at his vehicle in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. David Be'eri is a well-known right-wing activist and is the director of Elad, a settler organization that runs the City of David in occupied East Jerusalem. One Palestinian boy was taken to hospital and is believed to be in moderate condition. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Be'eri was in his car with his son as the Palestinian children hurled stones at them. He tried to escape the boys which made him hit the children."

Based on our research and the evidence found, it is clear that the image in question is not recent and dates back to October 9, 2010. 

The Verdict

An old photograph from 2010 is being shared with the false claim that a Palestinian child was run over by an Israeli military vehicle in Beit Furik. The incident captured in the viral claim occurred almost 13 years ago, in 2010, in the neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.