A video shared on X claims to show an Israeli Apache helicopter shot down by Hamas.
Verdict: False
The video is from Syria and shows a Syrian military helicopter shot down in 2020.
Fact Check:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire offer from Hamas Feb.7 and said that Israel would have total victory over the terrorist group, according to Reuters.
Social media users are sharing a video of a helicopter in flames and falling out of the sky, claiming it shows an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Apache helicopter shot down by a Hamas terrorist.
This video, however, is not from Israel. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video is from Syria and was posted to YouTube in Feb. 2020. The video’s title reads, “watched A Syrian regime helicopter was shot down in the Nayrab area in the Idlib countryside by opposition factions.”
News reports from the time state that the helicopter was shot down by Syrian rebels. The entire crew died in the ensuing crash, according to Al-Jazeera. The video was also published by NBC News. (RELATED: Did Times Square Billboards Call Ceasefire Anti-Semitic?)
An IDF spokesperson told Check Your Fact that “Hamas is a terrorist organization that spreads misinformation and employs psychological terror tactics to promote a distorted narrative about the war in Gaza.”
The spokesperson also said “no” when Check Your Fact inquired if an Apache helicopter had been shot down over Gaza recently.