نشرت احدى صفحات على منصة الفيسبوك في تاريخ 12 ستمبر 2026 مقطع فيديو مرفقًا بالنص الوصفي -بدون تصرف-:
An Israeli army incursion, with residents waving at them.
The post had received 265 reactions and 25 comments at the time this article was written. The Fatabyyano team then investigated the circulating claim and found the following:
The video is taken out of context and shows military vehicles entering the town of Baqasam in 2025, not recent events in rural Damascus
According to a report published by Reuters on September 8, 2026, quoted verbatim: “GENEVA, September 8 (Reuters) – A United Nations commission of inquiry on Syria said on Tuesday it was deeply concerned about Israeli military activity inside Syrian territory, warning that some actions, including the detention of civilians, could amount to war crimes. Briefing the United Nations Human Rights Council, Commissioner Fionnuala Ní Aoláin said Israeli military operations in southern Syria had become ‘increasingly sustained and entrenched,’ with repeated ground incursions, patrols, raids, and searches affecting civilians.”
In this context, social media users shared a video claiming it showed military vehicles recently entering rural Damascus. However, an investigation by the Fatabyyano team found that the video was misleading.
A Reverse Image Search of frames from the circulating video showed that the footage from 00:00 to 00:18 matches a video posted on Facebook on July 17, 2025.
Continuing the search, the Fatabyyano team found a higher-quality version of the same clip, published by Al Jazeera Net on July 17, 2025, explaining that it shows Israeli army vehicles entering the town of Baqasam in the Mount Hermon area, on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
By comparing the landmarks visible in the claimed video with satellite imagery, the team was able to identify the location in Baqasam. The clip shows a shop named “Al-Mukhtar,” while the road and surrounding shops match the site's features.
The team also found videos of tours filmed on the ground inside the town, showing buildings and shops matching those in the claimed video. This confirms that the clip was filmed in Baqasam and does not show recent events in rural Damascus or Suwayda.
الكاتب: المتدرب محمد الحريري
These articles were prepared for training and educational purposes as part of the Fatabyyano Fellowship, which is implemented under the “Fill the Space” project. DW Akademie implements the project in partnership with Fatabyyano, with funding from the European Union. These articles are the product of the fellowship trainees’ practical work, and their content may be updated or corrected as necessary.
