Video shows alleged Turkish coup plotters in 2016, not 'Israeli generals held by Hamas'

"Hamas released a video of five captured Israeli generals," reads a Facebook post written in Malay that shared the footage on October 9, 2023.

The video, which has more than 129,000 views, shows a line of men who are asked to identify themselves before they leave the room with their hands tied behind their backs.

Text overlaid on the clip says: "Hamas released video of Israel generals".

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on October 31, 2023

The video has been viewed more than 12,500 times after it was shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here, as well as on TikTok, in posts that also linked it to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The claim also circulated in Arabic.

Thousands of civilians have been killed on both sides of the war triggered by an unprecedented attack on Israel launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

More than 1,400 people were killed in the attack, mostly civilians, and 240 hostages taken, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel retaliated with a relentless aerial bombardment that has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry on November 6, 2023.

However, the footage circulating on social media is not related to the war. Furthermore, on October 17, 2023, the Israeli army told AFP that there were no generals held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

Failed Turkish coup

Reverse image searches found a longer version of the video posted on YouTube by Turkish news outlet Medyascope on July 17, 2016 (archived link).

According to the video's description, it shows the arrests of high-ranking Turkish military officials accused of plotting a coup that year.

The video is credited to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency -- whose logo is seen in the top-right corner of the video.

The video's description identifies one of the men in the clip as Ozturk.

A man wearing a white, blue and green striped polo shirt is seen in the video identifying himself by that name.

Former air force chief Akin Ozturk was named in media reports as one of 24 'coup ringleaders' handed life sentences over the 2016 failed bid to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

More than 270 people, including 34 coup plotters, were killed and thousands injured after people took to the streets against the putschists, who launched attacks on parliament and the president's palace.

Thousands were later purged from their roles in the judiciary, police, military and education system, accused of being members of the coup movement.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video shared in the false post (left) and the genuine video from Anadolu (right).

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Screenshot comparison between the video shared in the false post (left) and the genuine video from Anadolu (right)

AFP also published a photo, credited to Anadolu, which shows Ozturk and other men from the line-up. According to the photo caption, it was taken on July 17, 2016.

Another video showing the men was posted to Anadolu's Arabic-language YouTube channel (archived link).

AFP previously debunked another video purporting to show Israeli generals captured by Hamas. The clip in fact showed separatists arrested in Azerbaijan.