“GAZAWOOD1” account on “X” published a video clip documenting the scene of people fleeing as smoke appeared from the building, and accompanied the clip with the following description: “Do you really think that an Israeli army missile hit there?” In reference to the account’s denial that the Israeli occupation army targeted the building, claiming that the video is a staged scene.
Kashif verified the claim and found it to be misleading. Kashif contacted photographer Shihab Younis, who is in the Gaza Strip and filmed the circulated video. He explained that the house belongs to the Abu Shabeika family and is located east of Rafah Governorate, near Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital. He pointed out that the occupation army targeted it with an artillery shell from a tank, not with missiles.
Younis said that he took the video during the ground attack on Rafah Governorate on 6/5/2024, explaining that the army bombed houses with artillery shells when it entered the Rafah area by ground force with the aim of forcing residents to leave the area. He pointed out that the effect of an artillery shell is different from the effect of a missile, as it does not completely destroy the building.
Regarding the smoke, Younis stressed that it was the result of targeting the building, and confirmed that the girl sitting on the ground was not injured but was in a state of fear because of the shell that hit her house, and was waiting for her family to know their fate.
A report published by Wafa Agency on 7/5/2024 stated that the Israeli occupation forces targeted the vicinity of the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Al-Salam and Al-Janina neighborhoods, while airstrikes targeted the Al-Tannour neighborhood in Rafah. The bombing resulted in five fatalities and the injury of others in the bombing of a house in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, and three others, including a child, were killed in the bombing of the Abu Amra family home. The Israeli occupation forces continued to bomb areas east of Rafah with aircraft and artillery, with the launching of flares and intensive flights by reconnaissance aircraft.
The ceasefire agreement between the Israeli occupation army and Hamas in the Gaza Strip entered into force on Sunday, 19/1/2025, after the Israeli occupation state announced that it had received the names of three female detainees who were released on the same day. The Israeli occupation forces released 90 female prisoners and children from Ofer Prison, southwest of Ramallah, as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 47,107 and 111,147 injuries since 7 October 2023, according to the latest update from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
| Source of Claim | Sources of Verification |
GAZAWOOD – the PALLYWOOD saga | Contact photographer Shihab Younis, Wafa Middle East Agency, Shihab, Palestinian Ministry of Health / Gaza |