Video shows Catholic festival, not homeless victims of Israel-Hamas conflict
- Published on October 30, 2023 at 10:09
- 4 min read
- By Panisa AEMOCHA, AFP Thailand
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"Many millions of people have been made homeless. I hope they are all safe. Israel. Palestine," reads Thai-language text superimposed on a TikTok video posted on October 11.
The clip, which has more than one million views, shows huge crowds of people at an open-air venue. A number of tents or marquees can be seen scattered around the area.
The post appeared after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering a war that has killed thousands of civilians on both sides.
The attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, saw gunmen storm across the border from Gaza, killing more than 1,400 people and taking more than 230 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment that Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people.
The TikTok video has been shared repeatedly on the platform, including here, here and here. Similar videos filmed from different angles have been posted here and here with the same claim.
Comments under these posts indicated many social media users believed the video shows people left homeless by the conflict.
"Now there is war, those who are in trouble are the people," one comment reads.
Another says: "The leaders have chosen war instead of negotiation. The burden then falls on the shoulders of the people. Sad."
World Youth Day
Using a Google reverse image search and the InVID-WeVerify verification tool developed by AFP, a picture from photo provider iStock can be found showing a similar scene (archived link).
"Lisbon, Portugal. August 5, 2023. Pilgrims from all over the world attend the final celebration of World Youth Day presided by Pope Francis, at Parque Tejo, Lisbon, on the fifth day of the event," the photo caption says.
The image was captured by Portuguese independent photographer Igor de Aboim, who confirmed the date and location with AFP (archived link).
"I confirm that the alleged claim that said the video represents homeless victims from the Israel-Hamas conflict is false," Aboim said on October 24.
Below is a comparison between a screenshot from the TikTok video at the 20-second mark (left) and the image from iStock (right), with identical features highlighted in red by AFP.
World Youth Day is an annual celebration of the Catholic faith aimed at young people. A mass gathering to mark the occasion is held every two or three years in a different location around the world (archived link).
Catholic media said more than 350,000 people registered to attend this year's Lisbon event between August 1 and 6, but that at least 1.5 million were in the area with Pope Francis on the final two days (archived links here and here).
In the iStock photo, a large outdoor stage bearing a Christian cross can be seen on the right. AFP geolocated this structure to Tejo-Trancão Park in the Portuguese capital (archived link).
A reverse image search on Google using frames from the TikTok led to a video of the Lisbon festivities uploaded to YouTube by the organiser. The stage can be seen in this official footage (archived link).
Vasco da Gama Bridge
A large cable-stayed bridge also appears in the TikTok clip about 15 seconds in. AFP was able to geolocate this landmark using another Google reverse image search. It is the Vasco da Gama Bridge over the Tagus River estuary (archived link).
Below is a comparison between a screenshot of the bridge taken from the TikTok video (left) and the structure as seen on Google Maps Street View (archived link).
AFP has also debunked other misinformation stemming from the Israel-Hamas war in reports found here.
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