'Statements that the hospital bombing was carried out from Gaza are misinformation'

The Directorate of Communications Disinformation Combat Center has issued a statement regarding claims circulating on social media following Israel's attack on a hospital in Gaza, asserting that the attack has in fact been carried out from Gaza.

At least 500 people have lost their lives in the el-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which Israel bombed in the blockaded Gaza yesterday (October 17).

In posts shared on the Disinformation Combat Center's social media account, it was reported that Hananya Naftali, Israel's former digital media officerwas immediately shared social media posts after Israel's attack on el-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, stating that "the Israeli Air Force had hit a hospital in Gaza."

The center further reported that Naftali deleted these posts shortly after, and it was determined that he was attempting to manipulate world public opinion with claims that the missile striking the hospital was fired from Gaza.

The statement by the center also explained that an account presenting itself as a journalist working for Al Jazeera and claiming that "the missile that struck the hospital was fired from Gaza" was a fake account. The account with the name "Farida Khan" was found to have no connection to Al Jazeera and was being used for manipulative purposes.

Additionally, the official Israeli state account on the X platform shared a video at 22:42 Turkish time, attributing the bombing of the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital to Hamas. However, it was determined that the video, despite being shared around 19:27, was recorded at 19:59, indicating a serious case of disinformation. Recognizing that the video was incorrectly timestamped, the Israeli account removed the video from sharing at 23:04 Turkish time.

The Directorate of Communications Disinformation Combat Center also said in its statement:

"The claim that 'the missile that struck the hospital was fired from Gaza' regarding the images shared from some social media accounts is not accurate. It was established that the images bearing the logo of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have in fact been in circulation since July 8, 2022. Please do not give credence to false claims." (AS/PE)