A photo depicting several children standing behind metallic bars is circulating on various social media platforms with claims that it shows Israel imprisoning Palestinian children. The image is accompanied by a caption stating, “Palestinian kids placed in cages by cruel, belligerent Israel”.
Misleading Information
A photo showing several children standing behind metal bars is circulating on social media platforms with the claim that it depicts Israel locking up Palestinian children in prison.
Fact
This image is part of a series taken at a Palestinian soup kitchen in Hebron, located in the West Bank of Palestine. The original photograph captures Palestinian children waiting for food at the soup kitchen. It’s important to note that this setting is not a cage or a prison, and it does not involve any Israelis.
Verification
By conducting reverse-image searches across various search engines, we located the original image published on the official website of the European Pressphoto Agency Images. Originally posted on August 18, 2010, the photograph is credited to EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN.
Titled ‘Food donations for Ramadan in Hebron,’ the image description states, “Palestinian children wait to receive food donated by the Islamic endowment authority Islamic waqf at a soup kitchen in the West Bank city of Hebron on 18 August 2010. Muslims worldwide observe fasting from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.”
It is evident that the falsely claimed cropped version of the circulated photo originates from this image. Using appropriate keywords, we discovered that Reuters also documented a series of photographs from similar soup kitchens organized during Ramadan in Palestine.
The tweet included a screenshot of a news article from the Los Angeles Times, displaying the original photograph of Palestinian children waiting to receive donated food.
Conclusion
Fake News Busters has determined that a cropped image depicting Palestinian children at a soup kitchen is circulating with false claims alleging that Israel imprisoned these children behind bars.
