Hostages’ families shaken as false rumors of rescue spread online
‘We all took anxiety pills,’ says mother of one hostage; police detain suspect behind misinformation clip, as IDF makes multiple appeals to the public to avoid spreading fake news
Unsubstantiated rumors spread throughout the country over the weekend claiming the army had rescued some Israeli hostages from Gaza, leading police to apprehend a suspect and the military to issue three separate statements denying that any captives had been extracted and pleading with the public to stop sharing fake news that was tortuous for the hostages’ families.
The rumors began spreading on WhatsApp and Telegram groups on Friday, and even named a number of specific hostages that were claimed to have been returned to Israel.
The IDF urged Israelis to stop spreading “false rumors that harm the hostages’ families and the public.” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that the rumors “are not true. Listen only to the announcements of the official authorities.”
Gal Hirsch, the government point man on the hostage issue, appealed to police and the Shin Bet to open a criminal investigation against the sources of the rumors. Hirsch added that “the police have already taken action, and a request for assistance has also been forwarded to the Shin Bet.”
On Saturday night, police said they had detained and taken for questioning a man suspected of being behind a viral video that circulated the falsehoods and claimed that 30 families of hostages had been called to hospitals. Additionally, TikTok blocked the account that posted the video on grounds of spreading misinformation.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum asked the public to “refrain from spreading rumors and passing on unverified reports that do not come from official sources.”
“The spread of rumors on the various networks hurts the families of the hostages who have been waiting for the return of their loved ones for more than a year,” the forum said.
Hamas is currently holding 101 Israelis and foreign citizens hostage in Gaza, after taking 251 hostages during their attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people.
Efforts to reach a hostage release and ceasefire deal have repeatedly faltered since last November, with Israel and Hamas unable to agree on the terms for an accord. Israeli officials have expressed hope that this week’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was seen as a particular source of intransigence in Hamas, may help pave the way to a deal.
One of the hostages who was rumored to have been rescued was Liri Albag, a 19-year-old female soldier who was abducted from her base at Nahal Oz on the morning of October 7. Shira Albag, Liri’s mother, told Ynet that at around 11 p.m. on Friday night, her family began to receive a wave of calls and messages asking about the rescue of her daughter.
“We didn’t sleep all night,” she said, adding that “it puts you under a lot of tension, which makes you wait for a knock on the door [from the army].”
“We all took anxiety pills to at least try to breathe, and we posted on Liri’s Instagram to ask the public to stop doing this,” Albag said.
Rumors of hostage rescues and other major events have spread online throughout the course of the war, leading to multiple denials from the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, which maintains that such events will only be made public via official sources and announcements.
However, the army’s triple statements over the weekend were unprecedented, pointing perhaps to the persistence of the false claims.
The Times of Israel Community.