“Peace for Beirut” sculpture from 2020 republished as new

A recent photo of an sand sculpture on the Gaza Beach was shared on social media, bearing the phrase “Peace be upon you Beirut,” with the claim that it is recent from the Gaza Strip during the current Israeli occupation aggression on Lebanon.

Kashif verified the image and found that it is old. Artist Mohammad Totah, who made the sculpture, told Kashif that the sculpture is old and and he made it in 2020 after the explosion of the Beirut port in Lebanon. He also drew an artistic sculpture in the sands of Gaza Beach bearing the phrase “We love you Lebanon” in 2021, as a message of solidarity from Gaza to Lebanon.

Totah, also posted pictures of the sand sculpture “Peace Be Upon You Beirut” on his personal page on 7 August 2020.

He also posted photos of the sand sculpture “We Love You Lebanon” on his personal page on 5 August 2021, on the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion.

The Israeli occupation army launched an aggression with hundreds of air raids on southern and eastern Lebanon and the southern suburb of Beirut since Monday 23 September 2024, and Hezbollah responded with waves of missiles and drones that reached Haifa, Nahariya, Safed and Afula.

Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced that 558 people were killed and 1,800 others were injured as a result of the Israeli occupation aircraft’s bombing of southern Lebanon, up until the time of publishing the verification.