Members of a CNN team covering the war in Israel and Gaza were seen diving into a roadside ditch under the scream of rocket fire during a live broadcast. The video of the dramatic moment went viral on social media. A version of the footage containing manipulated audio was later shared with false claims that CNN producers and journalists had staged the entire broadcast. AFP Fact Check traced the altered video to a YouTube channel that frequently spreads disinformation. A CNN spokesperson also rejected the claim and dismissed the edited clip as a “distortion”.

A verified account on X (formerly Twitter) with more than 120,000 followers shared a clip on October 11, 2023, showing CNN’s chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward and her team scampering to safety as rockets zipped overhead near the Israel-Gaza border.

The post read: “CNN exposed for faking an attack in Israel.”

On October 7, 2023, hundreds of Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel, a devastating assault that came 50 years and one day after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

During the onslaught, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages.

In the video, Ward and her team are forced to take cover during a rocket skirmish near the Gaza Strip. The camera keeps rolling as they shelter in a ditch next to the road, with a breathless Ward in focus and a man behind her talking on a mobile phone.

A voice purporting to be a producer back in the...

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