Posts misrepresent Bangkok amusement park show as scene from Gaza
- Published on March 31, 2025 at 21:26
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Alleged Crimes Committed by Israeli Soldiers Against the People of Gaza," says a March 24, 2025 post sharing the footage on X.
The video shows men in military fatigues throwing a third man into a large, smoking canister labeled with a skull and bones and the word "danger." The men then use a rope to hoist a skeleton from the tank.
The post comes as mediators including the United States press efforts to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, which began with a bloody October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian militant group -- and which has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins and almost its entire population displaced.
The International Criminal Court has been investigating Israel's conduct during the conflict, with arrest warrants issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Its retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 50,000 people in Gaza, mainly civilians, according to the territory's health ministry.
The video shared online, however, is unrelated to the war in Gaza.
The clip shows a scene from a Hollywood-themed stunt show at Dream World, an amusement park in Bangkok, Thailand.
AFP could not independently verify the source of the video in question. But reverse image searches surfaced numerous other videos on YouTube and other platforms that show the same stage set and scene, with matching sound effects and moves from the actors (archived here, here, here and here).
The posts place the production at the Bangkok amusement park and make clear it is a performance rather than a depiction of real-life events.
According to Dream World's official website, the Hollywood-style show is centered around showcasing various special effects and runs every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday in the afternoon (archived here). A separate partner website powered by the travel company Thrillophilia says the 25-minute performance chronicles a police tactical unit's takedown of a terrorist group (archive here).
A video on Dream World's official YouTube channel shows scenes from the production (archived here).
The stage is also visible on Google Maps, further corroborating its location in Bangkok -- far from the war in Gaza (archived here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war here.
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