This Footage Does Not Show Aerial Footage of Gaza But Zamalka, in Syria
The Claim
This is Gaza, completely destroyed. It looks like hell on earth.
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Emerging story
A video went viral on several social media platforms claiming to show aerial footage of Gaza.
A Zionist user named “Vivid,” known for posting misleading pro-Israeli posts on X, shared the video saying: “This is Gaza, completely destroyed. It looks like hell on earth. I guess declaring war on Israel on October 7th and slaughtering 1,200 innocent Israelis was a bad idea. Who would have thought? I stand with Israel in this just war.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the viral claim and found it to be misleading. The aerial footage has no relation to the destruction in the Gaza Strip.
Aerial Footage Shows the Destruction in Zamalka City, in Syria
The video includes an Arabic phrase, which upon translation, indicates that the footage does not show Gaza.
After selecting the text, using the translation option in Google reverse image search, Google Translate showed that the Arabic phrase means, “Aerial shots of the town of Zamalka in the Damascus countryside,” not Gaza as claimed.
The video ends with the logo of the Syria TV channel, casting further doubt on the claim's validity.
Upon searching for the keywords “Zamalka” and “Syria TV” in Arabic, Misbar’s team found the same video published on the Syria TV YouTube channel on Dec. 16, 2024, titled: “Aerial footage of the town of Zamalka in the Damascus countryside shows the massive destruction of its buildings.”
The video showed several aerial shots of the Syrian city Zamalka, 10 kilometers away from the capital Damascus, where the city is completely destroyed and deserted.
Separate Aerial Footage Depicts Israeli Destruction in Several Parts Across the Gaza Strip
Although the video in question does not show areas of the Gaza Strip, Israel caused massive destruction of buildings in many areas of the Strip, such as parts of Khan Younis City and Gaza City. Currently, the Israeli army is operating in Rafah and the northern parts of the Strip, Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia, where harrowing aerial footage was shared, but still, such areas could not be captured properly as Khan Younis and Gaza City, because the Israeli army is still operating in them.
Five months into the war, Al Arabiya shared a video in February 2024 showing the complete destruction of the eastern area of Gaza City, where the industrial factories of Gaza used to be.
After the Israeli army withdrew from Khan Younis, the Economic Times shared a video showing aerial footage of the city, where most of the buildings in the city were completely partially destroyed. The partially destroyed buildings are not habitable anymore.
However, nothing could be compared to the destruction shown in the northern parts of the Strip, where the Israeli army has been operating since May. Al Hadath shared a video recently showing hundreds of obliterated buildings.
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