Fact Check: Tragic image of father with dead child is from Turkey earthquake, not Israel-Palestine conflict

Amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, an image is being widely shared on social media in which a man is seen holding the hand of a dead child stuck under the rubble of a house.

The image is shared with the caption that the child was killed during an Israeli bombing in Palestine.

A social media user shared the image with the caption, “A FATHER HOLDING THE HAND OF HIS DEAD CHILD STUCK UNDER THE RUBBLE OF HIS HOUSE KILLED BY BOMBING done by #IsraelTerrorists. (sic)”

Similar posts can be seen here and here.

SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral image shows the victims of an earthquake in Turkey in 2023.

On doing a Google reverse image search, we found the same image uploaded on the website of the fundraising organisation, GoFundMe, seeking funds for earthquake relief in Turkey 2023. This hinted that the image may not be related to Palestine.

We also found the image published by The Guardian in an article on February 11, 2023. The article was titled “‘My eyes were full of tears’: shooting the defining image of the Turkey earthquake”. The image was shared with the caption, “Mesut Hançer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter, Irmak.”

The report stated that the image was taken by photojournalist Adam Altan, who recorded moments after the earthquake in Turkey.

Hence, we can ascertain that the viral image shows the aftermath of an earthquake in Turkey in 2023 and is not related to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.