An image is going viral on the internet claims to show a Palestinian mother retrieving her child's toy from their destroyed house in Gaza.
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on the viral image and came across the official website of the Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA).
This annual photography competition is held by the non-profit association Art Photo Travel.
The same photograph had won the title of “Remarkable Artwork” in 2020 under the category “Documentary & Photojournalism”.
The image was clicked by Hassan Ghaedi, and the caption stated that it showed a Syrian mother finding her child's toy car after she returned to a destroyed house in Homs after the conflict.
The image is from Syria and not Gaza.
(Source: SIPA/Screenshot)
SIPA's website also mentioned that Ghaedi is a freelance photographer from Iran.
Next, we looked for the photographer's social media handles and found his Instagram account.
He had shared the same picture on his account on 15 February 2020.
The caption stated that it was clicked in Homs, Syria in June 2016.
We have reached out to the photographer to get more context about the viral image, the story will be updated once we receive a response.
Conclusion: An old image from Syria showing a woman retrieving a child's toy from a destroyed house is being falsely shared as from Gaza.
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