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As war between Israel and Palestinian groups enters a fifth day, misinformation about the events is spreading like wildfire on social media. 

Israeli forces have rained down a barrage of air strikes on the Gaza Strip this week, killing at least 950 people.

It came after Hamas launched a surprise multi-front assault on Israeli communities on Saturday, firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters into Israel across land, air and sea. More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed, and around 130 people taken captive back to Gaza.

The escalating situation is playing out in real-time online, particularly on X (formerly known as Twitter). But scores of posts going viral on social media are either completely false or misleading.

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, appeared to add to the problem on Sunday, by urging users (in a now deleted post) to stay up to date on the situation in Israel and Palestine by following two accounts known for previously peddling misinformation.

Much of the misinformation has been published by accounts with blue checkmarks, which signify a user has purchased a premium X subscription for $8 per month.

The blue ticks have given the posts a veneer of authenticity, and ensured they appear high on users’ timelines, irrespective of accuracy. 

False assertions include purported bombings in Gaza that actually show Algerian football fans, a fake Taliban spokesperson claiming the Afghan group is joining Hamas’s war efforts, and video game footage passed off as air strikes. 

Middle East Eye debunks some of the misleading posts that have gone viral in recent days:

Attacks that Didn’t Happen

A video posted by right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong claimed Hamas fighters were going from house to house killing all the people inside the houses.

Users were quick to point out that the video he posted was actually of Israeli police, based on their uniforms. A “community note” was eventually added to the post by X to point out the inaccuracy, before it was eventually deleted by Cheong.

Elsewhere, blue-tick accounts claimed that Israel had bombed the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza.

BREAKING: ISRAEL BOMBS AND DESTROYS THE LARGEST CHURCH IN PALESTINE

Israel has bombed the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza.

The church is the THIRD OLDEST CHRISTIAN temple in the WORLD.

The irony lies in Christian Zionists supporting the destruction of their… pic.twitter.com/8GoObx9xeO

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) October 9, 2023

The church took to Facebook to clarify that the reports were false – and that it had in fact opened its doors to people displaced by Israel’s bombing campaign in the besieged enclave. 

One video claiming to show “Hamas fighters shooting down Israel war helicopter in Gaza” – was actually footage from the video game Arma 3. 

Clips from the same video game were falsely posted by far-right Britain First leader Paul Golding as Israel “about to rain down hellfire on Gaza”.