Old photo of Gaza police modified as Qassam Brigades

A picture of a masked man carrying a weapon has spread on social media, claiming that he is a member of the Qassam Brigades, affiliated with Hamas, guarding a church in Gaza. The picture was accompanied by the following text: “Qassam soldiers guard a Catholic church in Gaza, where Father Manuel Musallam gave a sermon on 17/9/2006.”

Kashif verified the image via “google images” tool and found that it is old and subject to manipulation. The image shows a member of the Palestinian police guarding the Latin Church on 17/9/2006 in Gaza City.

GettyImages website published the photo on 17/9/2006, with the following text: “Members of the new Hamas government security unit guard a church as Catholic priest Father Manuel Musallam delivers a sermon inside the church to a group of visiting Palestinian Muslim officials at the Latin Church on September 17, 2006 in Gaza City.” 

Kashif’s team also contacted photographer, journalist Abdul Rahman Al-Khatib, who confirmed that he took the photo for Getty Images in 2006 of members of the Palestinian police in Gaza. He confirmed that the circulated photo was modified by placing a mask on the head of the young man holding the weapon and changing its colors. 

Commander-in-chief of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, Muhammad Deif, announced on Saturday morning, 7/10/2023, the start of Operation “Flood of Al-Aqsa,” “in response to the crimes of the Israeli occupation.” He added that dozens of rocket barrages were launched from Gaza towards areas inside Israel, coinciding with the infiltration of Hamas fighters into the settlements surrounding Gaza.

Since then, the Israeli occupation has been waging an aggression on the Gaza Strip, which, according to the latest update from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, has resulted in the killing of 44,363 people and the injury of 105,070 others.