"BREAKING: Reports confirm the death of General John Pagri, Commander of the Special Tasks Battalion in the U.S. Army, in the Gaza Strip," says an April 6, 2025 X post with more than 30,000 likes.

The post also includes an image of two US soldiers holding firearms, with a mud brick wall in the distance.

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Screenshot from X taken April 16, 2025

The same claim has circulated elsewhere on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and TikTok -- including in Spanish, French, Arabic and Turkish.

The Pravda Network, a group of websites the French government has accused of spreading pro-Kremlin disinformation, also amplified the claim.

The Israeli military restarted its ground and aerial offensive against Hamas in Gaza after a ceasefire between the two expired on March 18. Since the truce ended, at least 1,690 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

While the United States has lent considerable military and economic aid to Israel, there have been no announcements that American military personnel would take combat roles in the conflict that began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

US military personnel were stationed in Israel to help locate American hostages held in Gaza, but an AFP search of the US Army and National Guard databases of current generals showed no officer with the surname "Pagri."

A US Army soldier died in November 2024 after being injured during a problem-plagued operation to establish a temporary aid pier on...

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