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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

War & conflict fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about war & conflict. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,834 published reviews in this topic

Factcrescendo ThailandWar & conflict

Israeli soldiers raising the Israeli national flag above the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review investigated a social-media video captioned as showing Israeli soldiers raising Israel’s flag on top of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The post also made broader accusations about the hospital and its staff, but the location of the flag-raising video was the specific point checked. The review reports that the post had been viewed more than 300,000 times and shared across platforms, including TikTok. To check where the footage was filmed, the review cites French journalist Arthur Carpentier, who compared features visible in the video with satellite imagery in Google Maps. His identification was that the building was Gaza Preliminary School for Boys, not Al-Shifa Hospital. The review places the school approximately 400 meters from the hospital. It further says the location identification was verified by GeoConfirmed, an organization described as specializing in verifying the locations of images and videos online. The resulting distinction is between footage of soldiers raising a flag at a nearby school and the post’s claim that the footage shows them doing so above Al-Shifa Hospital. The review’s conclusion addresses that location attribution; it does not, on the evidence provided here, establish the broader accusations in the social-media caption about what happened to patients, staff, or families at the hospital.

Factcrescendo ThailandWar & conflict

ทหารอิสราเอลปักธงเหนือโรงพยาบาล Al-Shifa

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examined a viral video presented as showing Israeli soldiers raising an Israeli flag above Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The social-media caption associated the video with events on 15 November 2023 and made additional claims about people inside the hospital and arrests. The review’s central finding was that the video was filmed at a different location, so it did not show soldiers planting a flag above Al-Shifa: it identified the building as Gaza Preliminary School for Boys, about 400 metres from the hospital. [S1: “ข้อกล่าวอ้างว่าวิดีโอดังกล่าวถ่ายขึ้นที่โรงพยาบาล Al-Shifa ในฉนวนกาซา จึงเป็นข้อมูลที่ชวนให้เข้าใจผิด โดยความจริงแล้ววิดีโอดังกล่าวถ่ายขึ้นที่โรงเรียนที่อยู่ห่างจากโรงพยาบาลไปประมาณ 400 เมตร”] To check the location, the review describes French journalist Arthur Carpentier identifying the site as the school. It says he compared the school’s position in Google Maps satellite imagery with features visible in the video. The review also reports that GeoConfirmed, an organization that verifies the locations of images and videos, confirmed the identification. These location comparisons, rather than merely the video’s caption, underpin the review’s conclusion that the footage was misattributed to Al-Shifa. [S1: “โดยได้ระบุว่าตำแหน่งในวิดีโอดังกล่าวไม่ใช่โรงพยาบาล Al-Shifa แต่เป็นโรงเรียน Gaza Preliminary School for Boys ในฉนวนกาซา ซึ่งอยู่ห่างจากโรงพยาบาลดังกล่าวประมาณ 400 เมตร”] [S1: “โดย Carpentier ได้ทำรูปภาพเปรียบเทียบตำแหน่งของโรงเรียนจากภาพถ่ายดาวเทียมใน Google Map กับองค์ประกอบในวิดีโอไว้ตามภาพนี้ โดยข้อมูลดังกล่าวได้รับการยืนยันโดยบัญชี GeoConfirmed บนแพลตฟอร์ม X”] The review separately mentions BBC reporting from inside Al-Shifa after the IDF invited the broadcaster to visit following its entry into the hospital. The account says the IDF believed Hamas had operated there and might have withdrawn with some hostages. That reporting is presented as hospital-related context; the review’s specific finding about where the flag-raising video was filmed rests on the school-location comparison. [S1: “BBC ได้รายงานสถานการณ์ภายในโรงพยาบาล Al-Shifa หลังจากได้รับเชิญจากหน่วย IDF ให้เข้าไปสำรวจโรงพยาบาลหลังจากที่หน่วย IDF ได้บุกเข้าไปในโรงพยาบาล โดยทางหน่วยฯ ได้ระบุกับ BBC ว่า พวกเขาเชื่อว่ากลุ่มฮามาสเคยกบดานอยู่ที่นี่ จากหลักฐานต่างๆ ที่ได้พบ และฮามาสอาจถอนกำลังออกไปแล้วพร้อมด้วยตัวประกันส่วนหนึ่ง”]

FACTLYWar & conflict

Palestinians in Gaza painted a donkey with the Israeli flag before subsequently burning the animal

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim links two photographs as though they show the same donkey and a sequence of events in Gaza. FACTLY reports that the images are unrelated: the painted donkey was photographed on 23 September 2011 in Kfar Kadum, a West Bank settlement, while the burning-donkey photograph was taken near Rafah in Gaza on 06 August 2014. The different places and dates contradict the claimed setting and sequence. [S1: “The first was captured on 23 September 2011, in a West Bank settlement during a Palestinian demonstration. The second was taken on 06 August 2014, near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip”] The review says a reverse image search of the painted-donkey photograph led to the same image on Alamy. Its accompanying description identifies the scene as a demonstration in Kfar Kadum supporting the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the United Nations. FACTLY also says AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh took the picture. The review found no evidence that this animal was later killed or burned. [S1: “Conducting a reverse image search on the photo of a donkey painted with an Israeli flag led us to the same image uploaded on Alamy, a stock image portal.”] [S1: “However, there is absolutely no mention or evidence indicating that the Palestinians ultimately burned or killed the animal in question.”] For the second photograph, FACTLY reports that a reverse image search led to a similar image on Getty Images. The associated description says the donkey burned near Rafah had been killed earlier by an Israeli air strike. Thus, the image documents a separate event in Gaza three years after the West Bank demonstration; it does not show Palestinians burning the painted donkey. The collage creates a misleading connection between two old images. [S1: “The description associated with the image reads ‘Palestinians burn the donkey, who was killed earlier by an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on 06 August 2014.’”] [S1: “Hence, this proves that both these images are not connected, as the incident involving the burning of the donkey was documented in the Gaza Strip, occurring three years after the demonstration in a West Bank settlement where a donkey was painted in Israeli colors in 2011.”]