An image shared on Facebook claims to show the Palestinian Territories being bombed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Verdict: False
The image is from 2021, not 2024. The birthplace of Jesus, Bethlehem, does not appear to have been bombed.
Fact Check:
The Israeli military fired two senior officers after a report found that there were several failures when the IDF bombed an aid convoy and killed seven workers with the World Central Kitchen, according to CNN.
Social media users are claiming to show the IDF bombing of Bethlehem. One user wrote, “Birth place of Jesus is getting bombed on Easter.” (RELATED: Does Video Show Two Palestinian Journalists Celebrating Missile Launching In Gaza?)
This claim is false. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the image is from 2021 and shows the IDF bombing Gaza City, according to the Times of Israel.
“Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli warplanes carry out strikes, early on May 17, 2021,” reads the image description.
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Bethlehem is in the West Bank and is administrated by the Palestinian Authority.
Check Your Fact could not find any reporting that Bethlehem had been bombed in the Israel-Hamas War. The Associated Press reported in December 2023 that the town had shut down celebrations during the Christmas season due to the Israeli campaign in Gaza.
“We can’t justify putting out a tree and celebrating as normal, when some people (in Gaza) don’t even have houses to go to,” one resident told the Associated Press.
Christians in Gaza have been affected by the Israeli campaign. Check Your Fact recently reported on the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem accusing the IDF of murdering two women at the Holy Family Catholic Parish, the only Catholic Church in all of Gaza.