This Image of a Child Under the Rubble Is Not from Gaza

Misbar investigated the circulating image and found the claim to be misleading.

This Photo Was Taken After the 2023 Syria Earthquake

Misbar's team found that the image dates back to February 2023, from the earthquake that struck Syria the previous year. 

This image was featured in India Today, news website, on February 9, 2023, in the article titled “Turkey-Syria Quake: Pictures Tell the Tale of Death and Destruction.”

As described alongside the image, Mousa Zidane, a photographer and rescue worker with the White Helmets in Syria, saved the life of a young girl after enduring 50 hours of continuous digging. 

2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquake

On February 6, 2023, a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey near the border with Syria, triggering thousands of aftershocks. In Syria, this disaster intensified the challenges posed by the ongoing conflict, worsening the situation for approximately 3.7 million children. 

The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that around 15.73 million people in both Syria and Turkey were affected. In Turkey, 2.5 million children—many of whom are Syrian refugees—faced heightened risks of poverty, child labor, and early marriage following the event. Overall, the disaster resulted in over 55,000 fatalities and nearly 130,000 injuries, while millions were displaced.

In Turkey, the earthquake intensified an already critical situation created by the ongoing conflict and refugee crisis in Syria. It impacted eleven Turkish provinces, including Adana, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, and Sanliurfa, hindering NGOs that provide cross-border humanitarian assistance to Syrians.

In Syria, the earthquake wreaked havoc on cities such as Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Idlib, causing extensive destruction, including the collapse of many buildings and significant damage to water supply systems.

UNRWA Chief Highlights Destruction of Gaza Headquarters Amid Ongoing War

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has posted images on X from his recent visit to the agency’s headquarters in Gaza City, which was reported a week earlier as having been “flattened and turned into a battlefield.”

The images depict the devastation of the compound, which is prominently marked with U.N. logos. Lazzarini remarked, "This site once housed our central offices and was among the largest UN compounds in the region. … It represents just one of the hundreds of UN buildings destroyed during this conflict."

He emphasized the need to identify and hold accountable those responsible for the destruction of the office. “It is imperative that those responsible, whether they are Palestinian armed groups like Hamas or the Israeli Forces, be held accountable for this blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

Firefighters Struggle to Control Blaze at Hodeidah Port Following Israeli Strike

Firefighting crews are having difficulty managing a fire at Yemen’s Hodeidah port, two days after an Israeli airstrike damaged oil storage facilities and posed a threat to aid vessels in the harbor, according to AFP reports. Progress in controlling the blaze seems minimal, with the fire spreading in certain areas of the port, raising concerns that it may reach food storage facilities.

High-resolution satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies reveal flames engulfing a severely damaged fuel storage site within the harbor in Hodeidah, located on the Red Sea. An analysis of satellite imagery from Planet, carried out by the Dutch peace organization PAX, identified at least 33 destroyed oil storage tankers, as reported by project leader Wim Zwijnenburg.

“We anticipate finding more destruction, as not all storage tanks are visible due to the thick smoke from the fire and burning fuel,” Zwijnenburg stated. In response to questions from reporters regarding whether attacks on infrastructure would disproportionately affect the civilian population rather than the Houthi administration, Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., asserted: “Israel has the right to defend itself, and I will not question whether Israel’s targets were appropriate in this case.”

He further commented, “They had the right to respond to that attack on Tel Aviv. The responsibility for all of this can be traced back to Iran, and we will continue urging Iran to cease its support for the Houthis and their terrorist activities.” The drone attack on Tel Aviv on Friday resulted in one fatality, with the Houthis claiming responsibility for the incident.

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