Claim: The image shows the Israeli army reaching Damascus in Syria.
Fact: The claim is false. The image is old and shows Israeli tanks near Gaza, not Damascus.
Israeli airstrikes have recently targeted several locations in Syria, destroying weapons and military facilities, as uncertainty looms over the country's future following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad's government by rebels.
Amid these developments, an X user posted an image with the caption: "BREAKING: Israeli tanks are near the Syrian capital of Damascus." (Archive)
The image shows a line of tanks with Israeli flags in an open area.
Similar claims can be seen here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. This is an old photo from Gaza.
A reverse image search led us to a report by DW titled 'Israel gives 24 hours to evacuate Gaza residents', published on October 13, 2023.
The report featured the same image with the caption: "Israel gives 24 hours to evacuate Gaza residents. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo/picture alliance."
The report stated that the Israeli military had issued a 24-hour evacuation notice to over 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza, instructing them to move to the southern Gaza Strip.
We also found the original image from the Associated Press (AP) archives.
The description provided by AP confirmed that the photo shows Israeli tanks heading toward the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, not Damascus. The image was taken during heightened conflict along the Gaza border in October 2023.
The image was captured by Ohad Zwigenberg, a photojournalist based in Jerusalem.
His work primarily covered the Israel-Palestine conflict, focusing on significant events in Israel and the West Bank. Zwigenberg began working for AP in February 2023 and has documented many critical moments related to the region's conflicts.
Therefore, the claim that the viral image shows the Israeli army entering Damascus, Syria, is false. The image is from October 2023 and shows Israeli tanks near the Gaza Strip.
Claim Review: The image shows the Israeli army reaching Damascus in Syria.
Claimed By: Social Media Users
Claim Reviewed By: NewsMeter
Claim Source: X Users
Claim Fact Check: False
Fact: The claim is false. The image is old and shows Israeli tanks near Gaza, not Damascus.
(This story was originally published by NewsMeter, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)
