This verification has been updated with new information.
A piece of information attributed to NBC has spread on social media, stating: “Hamas releases 20 Israeli hostages”.
Kashif verified the claim and found it to be plagiarism. It searched the website and accounts affiliated with NBC on social media platforms and did not find any mention of this information.
Kashif also examined the Hamas website and channel on Telegram and did not find any mention of Hamas releasing 20 Israeli prisoners. The last thing the movement published was an obituary for the former Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in addition to announcing that it had targeted an Israeli occupation army tank with a “Yassin 105” shell in the Al-Tanour neighborhood east of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip.
Kashif’s team also searched reliable Arab media outlets covering the aggression on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and did not find any coverage of the circulated information.
In November 2023, a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into action, 81 Israeli prisoners, 23 Thai, one Philippines were released by Hamas, in return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners, including 71 female prisoners and 169 minors, however the Israeli army re-arrested a number of them later.