2018 Photo of Suffocated Girls from Syria Resurfaces in Relation to Gaza War

Misbar investigated the viral photo and found the claim to be misleading.

After conducting a thorough reverse image search, Misbar’s team found the photo making the rounds to be outdated and unrelated to the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

Old Photo Shows Suffocated Girls from Syria, Not Gaza

Contrary to social media users’ viral claim, the photo is not recent and unrelated to Gaza. The photo dates back to 2018 and was shot in the town of Douma, Syria.

Photographer Hasan Mohamed shot the photo for AFP and was uploaded to Getty Images.

The photo’s caption indicates that the photo features a Syrian girl holding an oxygen mask over an infant's face at a makeshift hospital in the town of Douma in eastern Ghouta, near the capital Damascus.

The photo was taken in a makeshift hospital after a reported gas attack on the area on January 22, 2018.

United Nations Accuses Syria Regime of Chemical Attack

According to reports, at least 21 people, including six children and six women, experienced breathing difficulties in a suspected chemical attack by the Syrian regime on a besieged enclave near Damascus, according to an NGO monitor. 

The attack targeted the city of Douma in the rebel-held region of Eastern Ghouta, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. "After regime forces fired rockets into the western part of the city of Douma, white smoke spread, causing 21 cases of suffocation," the monitor stated.

United Nations inspectors have accused President Bashar Assad’s regime of conducting multiple deadly poison gas attacks during the country’s devastating long war. 

At the time, Arab News released a video report of the attack on YouTube. In the video, the same girl seen in the viral photo is seen alive and wearing an oxygen mask.

(SNHR): The Syrian Regime Used Chemical Weapons

On November 30, 2023, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released a statement, noting that the Syrian regime still has a chemical weapon arsenal and raising serious concerns about the potential use of chemical weapons (CWs) again in Syria. 

The SNHR reported that at least 1,514 Syrian citizens have suffocated to death in chemical weapons attacks, including 214 children and 262 women, with 12,000 still awaiting accountability for the Syrian regime.

The SNHR holds Bashar Assad, the head of the Syrian regime and Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces, responsible for the movement and use of chemical weapons.

Israel’s Barbaric War on Gaza Killed Over 38,900 Palestinians 

According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, the number of Gazan people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 has risen to at least 38,919. Another 89,622 have been wounded, and thousands are still missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings. 

In addition, Gaza’s Government Media Office has confirmed the death of a journalist, bringing the total number of journalists killed in the Strip to 161.

Yesterday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion declaring the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory as “illegal” and urged Israel to end its presence in the occupied Palestinian territories as soon as possible.

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