Viral video predates Israel war, doesn't show Hamas parachuting into Israel | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Video shows Hamas fighters parachuting into Israel

An Oct. 8 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes a video of people with parachutes descending from the sky into a crowd of onlookers in an urban area.

“Imagine attending a music festival when Hamas parachutes in,” reads the post's caption, which includes the hashtags #israel, #palestine and #war.

It received more than 1,000 likes in three days. Another version of the claim was shared more than 1,000 times on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The video has been on the internet since at least September, predating the Hamas attack on Israel in October. It is unrelated to the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

Video posted on Sept. 27, more than a week before Hamas attack

The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on the morning of Oct. 7, killing and wounding hundreds of Israelis. Some of the militants used paragliders to cross the border from Gaza into Israel to carry out the attacks.

One of the first targets of the assault was a music festival, where Hamas gunmen killed dozens of unarmed civilians. At least 260 bodies were recovered from the site.

But the video in question does not show scenes from the current Hamas-Israel conflict. It was uploaded to TikTok on Sept. 27, more than a week before the attack.

Fact check: Video shows Israeli airstrike in Gaza in May, not current attack

A man in the first frame of the video can be seen wearing a shirt that says “El-Nasr SC," a reference to a soccer club based in Cairo, Egypt. Google Images results show the area surrounding the club's arena matches the area visible in the video, including blue fencing and stadium lights in front of high-rise buildings.

The video shows onlookers running toward the parachuters and taking videos of their descent. There does not appear to be a sense of panic or fear.

A salvo of rockets is fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza towards Israel on October 10, 2023. Israel said it recaptured Gaza border areas from Hamas as the war's death toll passed 3,000 on October 10, the fourth day of gruelling fighting since the Islamists launched a surprise attack.
A salvo of rockets is fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza towards Israel on October 10, 2023. Israel said it recaptured Gaza border areas from Hamas as the war's death toll passed 3,000 on October 10, the fourth day of gruelling fighting since the Islamists launched a surprise attack.

Additionally, various outlets reported the music festival where Hamas paragliders descended was held in a desert near the border with Gaza – not a crowded city center. Videos taken during and after the attack do not show the same buildings, lighting fixtures or fencing that are seen in the earlier video.

USA TODAY reached out to the soccer club, the TikTok user who posted the initial video and users who shared the Hamas claim for comment but did not immediately receive responses.

The Associated Press, Reuters and PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim video shows Hamas parachuters invading Israel | Fact check