FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show An Israeli Soldier Kneeling On A Palestinian Child’s Neck?

An image shared on Facebook claims to show an Israeli soldier kneeling on a Palestinian child’s neck.

Screenshot/Facebook

Verdict: False

The image, which was taken in 2016, shows an incident in Chile, not Israel.

Fact Check:

Violent fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out on May 10 and ended with a ceasefire early May 21, according to The Associated Press. At least 248 Palestinians and at least 13 Israelis were killed in the fighting, Reuters reported.

Since the fighting began, social media has become replete with misinformation regarding the clashes. Now, an image shared on Facebook claims to show an Israeli officer kneeling on a Palestinian child’s neck, killing him. (RELATED: Does This Video Show The Turkish Army In Palestinian Territory?)

“An Israeli soldier kills a Palestinian child and the world has not moved for him,” reads text in the image. “Share this picture until it rotates in the world to show the Zionist brutality in Palestine.”

The photo, however, is not from the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found it shared by Chilean radio station Radio ADN in an October 2016 article about a Facebook page denouncing the officer in the picture for an act of police abuse.

Chilean news station 24 Horas also reported on the incident, which occured in early October 2016, saying the young man on the ground was a 21-year-old from Santiago arrested for graffiti. The young man suffered bruising to his cheek and bleeding from his lip, according to the outlet.

The officer’s uniform shows the word “subteniente” which means second lieutenant in Spanish, indicating the incident took place in a Spanish-speaking country, not Israel or Palestinian terrority. The right side of the uniform has an insignia that strongly resembles that of the Carabineros de Chile, Chile’s national police.

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