Twitter pictures from Gaza proven to be false

JTA — Two photos tweeted as being the result of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in the recent round of violence have been proven false.

One photo, showing a dead Palestinian girl covered in blood in the arms of her father, was tweeted by Khulood Badawi (@KhuloodBadawi), who was identified by Honest Reporting as the information and media coordinator for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It also was tweeted by Diana Alzeer.

A screen shot from Mayer’s Facebook page about the picture.

“Palestine is bleeding … another father killed by #Israel … another father carrying his child to a grave in #Gaza,” Badawi’s tweet posted March 10 reads. It has been retweeted at least 300 times.

The picture was refuted by tweeter Avi Mayer, who identified it as a 2006 Reuters photo, and that the girl had died in an accident, according to Honest Reporting. Alzeer later tweeted an apology.

A Facebook screenshot of the 2009 picture

Another photo uploaded to Facebook by Maissam Nablussi on March 11 and later tweeted by Gaza Youth Break Out, showing an explosion in Gaza, was identified as “Gaza Under Attack Today.” In reality the photo was taken by Reuters in 2009 during Operation Cast Lead.