True and False Footage of Gaza Tunnels Flood Social Media in a Battle for Public Opinion
Social media networks remain instrumental in shaping public opinion about the Israel-Hamas war, including by boosting propaganda and disinformation.
One of the most discussed topics is Hamas tunnels, a network of secret underground passages and bunkers extending throughout Gaza to Israel.
Some posters are recycling footage from other locations to falsely claim they are from the Gaza Strip.
One such video has become viral, shared over the past three weeks on X and other social media platforms.
On X, the video was boosted by a blue-checked user WorldWarGist, who currently identifies as “Israel and Palestine War” and claims to share “updates of the war between Israel and Palestine.”
On November 13, WorldWarGist posted a video of a motorbike moving into a tunnel.
The post reads:
“THIS IS GAZA MADE BY HAMAS
“.Huge tunnels
“#HamasTerrorist #HamasisISIS
“#Israel #Gaza #Palestine”
A caption at the bottom of the video reads: “Welcome to Gaza.”
The post received some 70 thousand views and became one of the top 30 tweets about Gaza tunnels.
Another blue-checked X user, yarima619 shared the same video on November 5, writing “THIS IS GAZA,” and receiving more than 233k views.
Yet another blue-checked X user, nihaalshuklaa, shared it on November 5, with this caption:
“Welcome to the real Gaza. Tunnel inside the city…. Endless tunnels where Hamas terrorists lived, Millions of people can stay safe here.”
That post gained over 130k views.
The same video was posted to TikTok by user world.gringo23dz on October 31, where it received over 10 million views — vastly exceeding the view count of all their other videos combined.
At least a dozen others shared the same clip on TikTok, some with pro-Palestinian messages, falsely identifying it as coming from the Gaza Strip.
The post has also migrated to YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
Prior to the Gaza conflict, a longer version of the video circulated on social media, often with horror-themed captions and no geolocation tags.
The original video was first posted to Instagram by Killian Moreno, a self-described digital creator and big trail adventure rider.
His caption read:
“WOULD YOU GO DOWN THERE? WOULD YOU RIDE YOUR MOTORCYCLE DOWN TO THE END? Outside it was less than 10°C and down to about 30°C.”
A part of the original footage that shows a bike rider entering a tunnel has been removed from the social media video falsely identified as Gaza tunnels.
Moreno did not share geolocation, but it has similarities with other videos on YouTube that show Reward Mine, an abandoned group of mines located between Lone Pine and Independence in Inyo County, California. A section of Reward Mine is large enough to drive into.
Social media users have recycled other old videos, and falsely claimed they showed Hamas tunnels.
One widely debunked video claiming to show Hamas tunnels shows a Radio Transmitter Bunker in Sweden.
The existence of these fakes does not mean Hamas does not have a complex network of tunnels, including those capable of accommodating vehicles.
In late October, Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces — a main supporter of Hamas — said the tunnels are more than 400 kilometers long with portions of the network designed to accommodate motorcycles and larger vehicles.
Israeli estimates have put the number of tunnels at 1,300, spanning over 480 kilometers across Gaza. The territory of the strip is 41 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide.
On November 19, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released video, which, they say, shows part of Hamas’ tunnel network under Shifa hospital.
The IDF has also released footage with an October 7 time stamp — the day Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel — which they say shows the Palestinian militant group “forcibly transporting hostages through the hospital.”
Israel says Hamas has executed at least one Israeli soldier and had been forcibly holding some of the 240 hostages at the Shifa Hospital tunnel.
Israel has released photographs showing AK-style rifles, cartridges, vests and other equipment they say they recovered at Shifa Hospital.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of using Shifa as a “command center,” a claim which Hamas and hospital staff deny.
This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Polygraph.info can be found here.
