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Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Video of Catholic festival in Portugal falsely shared as 'people ... - AFP Factcheck

The war between Israel and Hamas that broke out on October 7 has forced 1.7 million Gazans to flee their homes. A video circulating in social media posts claiming it shows displaced Palestinians, however, is unrelated to the conflict. The footage shows pilgrims gathered in Portugal ahead of a holy mass led by Pope Francis in August 2023, two months before the latest flare-up in violence.

The 30-second clip was shared on TikTok on October 12, where it has more than 319,000 views.

The caption includes hashtags linking it to the Israel-Hamas war, such as "#Israel_News #Today_News #Israel #Palestine #GazaStrip #IsraelVsPalestine".

Sticker text on the video says in Thai: "This video has no description. Let the image tell all of my feelings."

The post circulated days after Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, taking around 240 hostages and killing another 1,200 people, mostly civilians, Israeli authorities say.

Israel has since retaliated with a relentless bombardment of Gaza that the Hamas-led health ministry says has killed more than 14,000 people, among them 5,800 children.

The strikes have forced 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.4 million population to flee their homes in the north of the territory, only to be met with an acute humanitarian crisis in the south where food and water are in short supply.

The video was shared alongside the false claim it shows the "millions of displaced" elsewhere on TikTok here. It was also shared with similar false claims in English and ...



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