Accounts on the X platform published a video clip showing young men distributing sweets in the middle of a demonstration in Syria, claiming that the video shows Syrians celebrating the explosions of wireless communication devices in Lebanon. The video was accompanied by the following text: “Celebrations of the Pager Invasion spread to Jabal al-Druze in #Syria.”
Kashif verified the video via Google search, it found that the video is old and the claim is misleading. The video was published by Syrian Channel, Orient , on 22 September 2023, and titled: “In a scene that embodies the collective spirit… distributing sweets to protesters in the middle of Al-Karama Square in Sweida”.
The Syrian province of Sweida witnessed demonstrations in August and September 2023, in which hundreds of citizens participated in protest against the deterioration of living conditions and demanding the “overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime”.
On Wednesday 18 September 2024, ICOM devices exploded while with their owners inside homes in different areas of southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Lebanon.
On Tuesday, 17 September 2024, pager devices exploded with their carriers in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa in eastern Lebanon, as well as in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the Rif Dimashq Governorate.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced on Thursday, 19 September 2024, that the death toll from the wireless communications device explosions has reached 37.
Hezbollah announced in a statement that the occupation was responsible for the attack, saying: “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for the aggression that also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs”.
Kashif also verified another video that was circulated with the same claim on 18 September 2024: “An old video from Egypt is being republished recently with the claim that it shows Syrians celebrating the incident of the pager devices being blown up in Lebanon”.