A video showing a spokesperson for Hamas, a Palestinian militant Islamist group, is going viral on the internet.
The claim: It states that Hamas recently thanked Iran for supporting them with funds and weapons to launch an attack on Israel.
Who shared it?: Along with several social media users, Israel's representative to the United Nations Gilad Erdan also shared the viral video with the same claim without proper context.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)
What is being said in the video?: As per the translation provided by the ambassador, the leader says, “Thanks to all those individuals, groups and countries, particularly the Islamic Republic of Iran, who have supported us generously with money, arms and other means, providing us with the missiles that have battered the Zionist strongholds during past confrontations with the occupiers. They have also supported us with anti-tank type missiles which, by the grace of god, and the faith of our fighters, shattered the myth of Zionist superiority.”
What's the truth?: This viral video is old.
Although it shows Hamas thanking Iran, it is not recent. It dates back to 2014.
Moreover, Iran's UN mission clarified that Tehran was not involved in the recent attacks on Israel by Hamas.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes and this led us to a YouTube video uploaded on 11 December 2017.
This was an extended version of the viral video.
According to the title, the video showed Hamas group thanking Iran for supporting them.
We also found a blog post from 14 December 2014 which carried a screengrab from this video.
It also mentioned that Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida spoke about Iran, Qatar and Turkey.
The post is from 2014.
(Source: blog/Screenshot)
Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search which led us to a statement released by the official website of Embassy of Israel.
It mentioned that on 14 December 2014, Hamas held rallies at the Gaza Strip to mark the 27th anniversary of the founding of the terrorist organization where spokesman Abu Ubaida thanked Iran for supporting the group.
The page is from 2014.
(Source: EoI/Screenshot)
Iran denies its involvement with Hamas this time: According to Reuters, Iran's mission to the United Nations clarified that Tehran was not involved in 'one of the bloodiest attacks in Israel's history' carried out by Hamas.
On 8 October 2023, Iran's UN Mission said, "We emphatically stand in unflinching support of Palestine; however, we are not involved in Palestine's response, as it is taken solely by Palestine itself."
Conclusion: The claim stating a Hamas spokesperson thanked Iran for its support in their recent attacks on Israel is false as the video is old.
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