Fact Check: Image showing a baby in a cardboard box is an old one from Greece but not from Gaza
Days after Hamas militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, social media was flooded with misleading videos and photos making it difficult to assess the real situation in the area of war.
Claim :
An image showing a baby in a cardboard box is from Gaza, it represents the present situation in Gaza.Fact :
The viral image is from the year 2016 and was taken in Greece
Days after Hamas militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, social media was flooded with misleading videos and photos making it difficult to assess the real situation in the area of war. One such image of a baby sitting in a cardboard box next to a woman was shared on social media with the claim that it depicts life in Palestine.
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The image is not from Gaza and is not recent.
When we performed a Google reverse image search, we found that the image has been in circulation on the internet for many years.
A Reddit post published on November 29, 2021, shares the same image with the caption: “When in the morning you wake up angry and complain for no reason, always remember that being born in the right place in the world is just a matter of luck.
Here is a similar post on Linked In.
The image was also published in a report published on Women's Refugee Commission.org where the baby is named Mariam at the refugee camp in Idomeni Greece.
Taking a cue from this, when we searched using the keywords ‘Idomeni refugee camp, Greece’, we found an article published on deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org
Hence, the viral image does not show the recent situation in Gaza, it is an old image from the year 2016. The image was shot at a makeshift refugee camp in Idomeni, Greece. The claim is False