This Image Does Not Depict an Israeli Soldier Killed in Gaza
The Claim
Captain Shafas Lavier, the deadliest sniper in the Israeli Army and commander of the Golan Brigade's sniper unit, killed by a Qassam sniper.
Emerging story
Recently, accounts and pages on the social media platform X have been circulating an image claiming to depict an Israeli soldier named Shafas Lavier who was allegedly killed in Gaza by Hamas.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the circulating image and found the claim to be misleading.
Israeli Soldiers Were Resting in Kibbutz Be’eri
Misbar's team found that the image, published on October 13 and accompanied by a description published by the Standard, captures Israeli troops taking a break in Kibbutz Be'eri during October 2023.
UN Reports Worsening Conditions and Growing Hunger in Gaza
According to the United Nations, over half of Gaza's population is currently residing in the Rafah area in southern Gaza. However, the residents of this region are grappling with worsening sanitary conditions and an increasing hunger crisis. The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has issued a warning, expressing concerns that any further escalation of hostilities in Rafah could have severe consequences for the 1.3 million individuals seeking shelter in the governorate.
OCHA's recent update reveals that hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Rafah and the southern city of Khan Younis are now living in makeshift shelters under extremely challenging conditions. Their access to essentials such as food, water, medicines, and proper shelter is either limited or nonexistent. The sanitation crisis is further aggravated by the scarcity of water, leading to an accumulation of solid waste worsened by rainfall.
The OCHA report provides a grim overview of the current situation in Gaza, revealing alarming figures. According to the World Health Organization, there are 158,000 cases of diarrhea, while the Gaza Municipality estimates approximately 50,000 tons of unmanaged solid waste. Over 650,000 people in Gaza have lost their homes due to extensive damage, and many are unable to return immediately. The destruction of residential housing has generated over 8 million tones of debris, and the cleanup process is expected to take more than three years. Additionally, water production from municipal wells has decreased to one-tenth of its capacity compared to the day before October 7, 2023. Only 15 bakeries remain operational, none of which are located in northern Gaza, a stark contrast to the 97 bakeries before the outbreak of hostilities.
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