A photo of a man, identified as international human rights lawyer and pro-Israel advocate Arsen Ostrovsky, smiling as a woman applies what appears to be theatrical makeup and fake blood to his face is being widely circulated online.
What's the claim?: The viral post claims that Ostrovsky staged his injuries using makeup for media appearances, suggesting the he faked suffering injuries during the Bondi Beach terror attack.
(Archives of similar posts can be found here and here.)
Some Context: On 14 December 2025, during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, a mass shooting took place, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more.
Ostrovsky was one of the people present during the shooting, which he survived despite suffering from a gunshot wound.
The shooting has been characterised as the deadliest mass shooting in Australia in nearly 30 years.
What's the truth?: The claim is false as the image is AI-generated.
Several credible news reports have confirmed that Ostrovsky was injured during the shooting.
What we found: We ran a relevant keyword search which showed us the following.
We found multiple news reports confirming details of the incident, including a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which carried a detailed account of the moment Ostrovsky was shot after gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach.
The ABC report also notes that Ostrovsky has called on social media companies to act after a doctored image of him began circulating online in the aftermath of the attack.
Responding to reports of the viral image were being shared, Ostrovsky urged social media platforms to behave more responsibly and said, "I will not dignify these sick and twisted campaigns of hate and lies with a response.”
To check whether the image was altered using AI, we ran the image through through Hive Moderation's AI-generated content detection tool.
It showed us a 78.3 percent likelihood of the image being an AI-generated one.
We also ran the image through through SightEngine's AI-generated content detection tool.
It showed us a 97 percent likelihood of the image being an AI-generated one.
Conclusion: The viral claim that Arsen Ostrovsky fabricated his injuries from the Bondi Beach attack using theatrical makeup is false and the image is artificially generated.
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