Footage shows Brazilian hostage rescue simulation, not 'Israeli commando shooting Hamas gunman'

"Look at the precision. An Israeli IADN commando, hanging upside down from ropes, took down a Hamas terrorist at point-blank range," reads the Hindi-language caption of a video shared on X on October 30, 2025. 

The dramatic footage shows a masked man holding a gun to the head of a hostage on a balcony. Officers stationed above the hostage-taker rappel down the building, before appearing to shoot him and rescue the hostage.

It surfaced weeks into a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, following more than two years of war sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people (archived link).

Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 69,513 people, according to figures from the health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

The fragile truce has endured occasional flare-ups since October 10.

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Screenshot of the false X post taken on November 4, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The video was also shared in similar Facebook and Instagram posts.

"This is the right treatment for jihadis," read a comment on one of the posts.

Another said: "The Indian Army should learn from the Israeli commandos."

But the video in fact shows a simulation of a hostage rescue carried out by Brazilian police.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to similar footage shared by Brazilian news outlet O Popular Net on Facebook on July 8 (archived link). 

Its Portuguese-language caption reads: "The Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) of the Military Police of Minas Gerais (PMMG) thrilled the audience with a hostage rescue simulation during a commemorative race at the Academy of PMMG, in Belo Horizonte, with officers from the elite squad that is always ready to protect lives, even in the most extreme situations."

It adds that the video, which it credited to the PMMG, confused some internet users who thought it was a real situation.

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the video posted in July (right)

The footage was also shared by a local media outlet on its social media page, with the post stating that it was a rescue simulation (archived link).

Moreover, the footage corresponds to Google Maps imagery of the PMMG academy in Belo Horizonte (archived link).

Similar visuals were shared as part of a longer video on the official Instagram account of the PMMG on July 9 (archived link).

The military police told AFP on November 18 that the BOPE had conducted a demonstration at the anniversary celebrations on July 6.

AFP has previously debunked false claims relying on misrepresented footage from drills.

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