Many misleading and fake stories have flourished on social media about the conflict between Palestine and Israel. As a result of misinformation, experts expect tensions between the countries.
Misbar detected several pieces of misleading news and misinformation spreading across the Israeli and Palestinian neighborhoods. Al Jazeera TV channel has recently circulated a video within the documentary “What Is Hidden Is Greater,” claiming it shows two Israeli officers kidnapped by a group self-identified as “Freedom” during a secret mission outside the occupation state.
The TV program’s host claimed, during this revelation, that the movement asked for the release of the Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the two Israeli officers.
The investigative program's host, Tamer Mashal, stated that "the video is proof of the abduction of two Israeli officers by the Al Huriya movement in an unknown location."
The video depicts two men claiming to be Israeli police officers named David Ben Rosie and David Berry.
Al Jazeera's investigative program aired a video on September 8th, 2020, containing some from a secret movement's Facebook page.
The movement did not reveal any location or date of detention, nor the current situation of the “two officers.” The movement also linked the destiny of the two men to the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The TV program revealed that the two men were kidnapped in two separate operations and showed a photo of the passport and ID card of one of them claiming he is from Ma’ale Adumim in Jerusalem.
While trying to solve this enigma, Misbar found that some Israeli security sources have told Middle East Eye’s news website that the recordings included in the video were “old and fake” and that “no Israeli citizens were missing.”
The spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister, Ofir Gendelman, also showed up to comment on the video in a tweet denying the story of these two kidnapped Israeli officers and described Al Jazeera as a platform for Hamas propaganda.
Activists and Twitter users have spread observations claiming there was a woman among the kidnapping group. In addition to noticing the water bottle’s brand the alleged Israeli drank from, in the video.
Although many sources could not independently verify the authenticity of the recordings, the broadcasted video within the documentary seems to be containing recent footage, which made the claim suspicious.
It is worth mentioning that Israel had recently charged six Palestinian prisoners who escaped last month from a high-security Israeli prison after their recapture. According to the prosecutor’s statement, the six men were charged with escaping from Gilboa prison, while five were accused of assisting their escape.
Some of the prisoners were serving lengthy sentences, and four others were arrested and accused of carrying out attacks against the Israeli army. The development of these events led to the spread of fake news and misleading information related to this story, which can also lead to an escalation between Palestine and Israel.
Misbar’s sources:
