Amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict which started on October 7, 2023, a video has gone viral on social media in which a young child is sitting on a bench wrapped in a white shroud while using their mobile phone.
The image is being shared with the claim that Palestinians are pretending to be dead to tarnish the image of Israel.
“Pallywood - Palestinian media manipulation. Despite being killed by the IDF, a Gazan rises from his grave to answer his mobile phone! (sic)” wrote a social media user who shared the image.
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral image is part of Halloween celebrations in Thailand in 2023.
On doing a Google reverse image search, we found an X user had shared a post on October 27, 2023, with a caption suggesting that the viral image is of Thailand, not Palestine. The caption read, “Pallywood conspiracy theorists are sharing this now-viral photo to claim Palestinians are faking images of the dead in Gaza. I traced the image to its source, the photo was originally posted on Facebook in October 2022 by a mom in Thailand. It's her kid in a Halloween costume.” The X user had also shared a screenshot of the original post shared by a Facebook user on October 29, 2022.
Taking this hint, we searched and found the original post shared by a Facebook user with a Thai caption. When translated it reads, “A small job, simple dressing, comfortable. Nothing much needed. Just friendly people.” The post also shared other images of the day with hashtags suggesting that it is of a Halloween party. The Facebook user who shared the image was from Thailand.
Hence, we conclude that the viral image is old and not associated with the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
