Unrelated photo from Israel shared to claim 'Hezbollah killed 100 IDF soldiers'

What is the claim?

An X user (formerly Twitter) shared a photo of coffins wrapped in the Israeli flag, arranged in two lines, with the caption, “More than 100 IDF soldiers were killed today by Hezbollah. It's just the beginning." Several other users also circulated the photo with similar claims; archived links to these posts can be found here and here.

Post shared on social media (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

These claims surfaced following an escalation in the Israel-Lebanon conflict after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on September 27. In retaliation, Iran, which backs Hezbollah, launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on October 1, 2024, many of which were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome.

However, this photo does not show coffins containing slain Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. It originates from a symbolic protest held at Habima Square in Tel Aviv in September 2024.

What did we find?

Through a reverse image search, we discovered that similar visuals were shared by other news outlets, indicating that the image was part of a protest held in Israel. The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post shared a similar image of coffins wrapped in the Israeli flag in a post on X on September 5, 2024. The post was captioned, "Protesters at Habima Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon (archived here)."

We noted several similarities between the viral post and the image shared by the Jerusalem Post, as shown in the image below.

A comparison of the viral image and image shared by the Jerusalem Post (Source: X/TheJerusalemPost)

A report in The Times of Israel also featured an image of this protest from a different angle, stating that it showed "fake coffins" carried by protesters demanding a deal to free hostages captured by Hamas. The report noted that around 300 people marched from Tel Aviv's Habima Square to the IDF headquarters, calling for a ceasefire deal to secure the release of hostages from Gaza. The protests began after the IDF reported the recovery of the bodies of six Israelis killed by Hamas earlier, the report added.

Additionally, another report by Sky News titled "Israelis carry coffins through Tel Aviv to represent killed hostages" included a video of the protest. The footage shows people carrying makeshift coffins in a procession. Other news outlets, such as Euro News and Voice of America, shared similar visuals.

A search for news or official confirmation regarding "100 IDF soldiers killed by Hezbollah" yielded no results. However, on October 2, 2024, it was reported that eight Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The verdict

An image from a protest held in Tel Aviv, featuring fake coffins to demand a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas, has been misrepresented with the false claim that Hezbollah recently killed 100 IDF soldiers.