Since October 8, 2023, a video of children in cages has been going viral on social networks along with the claim that it depicts Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists (1;2;3;4;5;6;7). In the video, a man can be heard laughing loudly. Georgian news agencies Resonancedaily and TV Pirveli published information with identical video and content.
It should be noted that pictures of children trapped in a cage were published by Russian-speaking Facebook users (1; 2) with a similar description. In addition, a video was widely circulated on X (formerly Twitter), where a user claimed that the video did not depict Israeli, but Palestinian children who were captured in Israel.
In fact, the video was filmed by a TikTok user, who filmed his relatives for fun and shared it on the social network before the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Therefore, it does not depict Israeli children trapped in cages by Hamas and is not related to the recent war.
In the widely distributed video, we can see the TikTok logo and the username of the same social network user @user6903068251281. However, it was impossible to view the original version of the video on TikTok with this user for several days, the video was deleted, and the account was deactivated. The TikTok account @user6903068251281 was reactivated on October 11 and published a video in which the creator explains the situation. According to the TikTok user, the children shown in the video are not Israelis, but his relatives, and the video was posted on TikTok before the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The video, in which children are seen in cages, is accompanied by the Arabic hashtag “الشعب إلى_ماله_حل#” and seven laughing emojis. The text accompanying the video reads:
“Opressed in my country
#The Chinese have no way out”
In Arabic, the hashtag “الشعب الصيني_ماله_حل#” translates as “Chinese people have no way out”. In Arabic, this satirical phrase means: “You can’t fix them.” According to the fact-checking portal Leadstories, this hashtag is used by Arabic speakers to share humorous videos on TikTok. As for the laughs added to the video, it’s trending on TikTok, and it accompanies a number of other entertainment-content videos.
In addition, the Danish fact-checking portal Tjekdet found that the video consists of two independent audio recordings; The original soundtrack of the video, in which the sounds of a car and children can be heard, is accompanied by the sound of a man laughing, which is also used in other humorous videos on TikTok and is not related to the video of children in cages.
Notably, a few days before the TikTok user posted the explanation, the Jewish fact-checking portal FakeReporter published several screenshots showing the date the TikTok video was posted. A screenshot released on October 9 shows that the video was released at least four days ago, before Hamas attacked Israel.
On October 9, the fact-checking portal Lead Stories shared another screenshot showing the same date the video was released, claiming that the video was posted on the social network before Hamas attacked Israel.
The video shared on the social network was also verified by the Norwegian and Spanish fact-checking platforms faktisk.no and maldita.es. The Norwegian publication notes that there is no padlock on the cage in the video. And according to maldita, in a second video posted by the TikTok user (@user6903068251281) on October 8, some of the caged children are now sitting on a porch.
As it turns out, the video was taken by a Tiktok user in response to one of the comments (“release them before they turn white”) and uploaded it to the social network after “freeing the children from the cage”.
As a result of the verification, it was found that the video showing the children in cages was circulated a few days before the Hamas invasion of Israel, as well as the screenshot text and laughing emojis of the original TikTok video confirm that the video is a joke and made for entertainment purposes.
Although the connection of the video to the current war has not been confirmed, it is worth noting that the terrorist group Hamas has indeed kidnapped children. Hamas threatens to kill the hostages and film their torture. Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN and other media that dismembered bodies of children were found in the settlement of Kfar Aza.
On October 7, 2023, the terrorist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the attack was a response to Israel’s attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque. He claimed that Israel was determined to take over this mosque, which the Palestinian people would not allow. The offensive, which began with massive rocket attacks on Jewish cities, continued with the breaching of the Gaza-Israel border and attacks by Hamas gunmen on civilians and Israeli bases, resulting in the terrorists killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping 150. Israel responded by declaring war, regaining control of the border, and killing up to 1,500 Hamas fighters. More than 950 Palestinians died after the bombing of the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel would destroy Hamas and take revenge for the attack.
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