A photo has been circulating on Telegram channels and WhatsApp groups showing a soldier aiming his rifle at two men in military uniform, one of whom is lying on the ground and the other with his hands up. The claim is that they are members of the Qassam Brigades, and that the Israeli occupation army was able to capture one of them in Khan Yunis. The photo was accompanied by the following text: “Israeli occupation army soldiers publish photos of a Qassam fighter who was captured in the Khan Yunis operation after being injured.”
Kashif verified the image via Google Images tool, and found it to be old and the claim misleading. The image had previously been circulated in 2023, and neither the Israeli army nor the Hebrew media announced the capture of a member of the Qassam Brigades in Khan Yunis.
The Mossad Commentary account on X platform published the photo on 7 December 2023, along with the following description: “The Golani Brigade has returned to Shujaiya. Backed by snipers from the 890th Battalion and tanks from the 188th Brigade, they eliminated some 300 fighters in more than 50 engagements over the course of 24 hours, seizing control of the most dangerous neighborhood in Gaza.”
The Mossad Commentary account has previously published a series of misleading claims about Gaza, which were debunked by Kashif, raising doubts about the credibility of the account’s context for the 2023 image.
Kashif’s reverse image search did not reveal any previous publication of the image by a reliable source or Hebrew media outlet, and therefore was unable to verify the authenticity of the image itself or its true context. However, the older publication confirms that it does not date back to a recent operation.
Kashif’s Israeli-Hebrew affairs team also examined statements issued by the Israeli occupation army and in Israeli media, but found no mention of the army capturing a Qassam Brigades member in Khan Yunis.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced on 20 August 2025, that its fighters had raided a newly constructed Israeli military site southeast of Khan Yunis, targeting a number of guard tanks and homes where Israeli soldiers had taken refuge.
“A number of mujahideen stormed the houses and killed a number of occupation soldiers inside at point-blank range,” it added in a statement, noting that “one of the martyrs blew himself up among the soldiers as soon as the rescue force arrived, killing and wounding them.”
Meanwhile, Israel-Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth and the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that approximately 14 Palestinian militants emerged from an underground tunnel and carried out an operation in Khan Yunis. The Israeli army said it killed 10 militants who participated in the attack targeting its forces. Channel 14 reported that three soldiers were injured in the incident, one of them seriously.
| Sources of claim | Sources of Verification |
| Jenin is different WhatsApp group | Mossad Commentary Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas RT Arabic TV |
