Following Israel’s assassination of a top Hezbollah commander in July 2024, a manipulated image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in publications around the world that falsely claimed it showed him under Hezbollah surveillance. The original photo – showing Netanyahu with his father – was published by US photo distributor Getty Images in February 2009.
“(Israeli occupation forces) were shocked when Hezbollah sent a photo of Netanyahu inside his office, threatening that he could not hide no matter how hard he tried,” read text in Thai superimposed on the doctored image. shared on Facebook on August 7, 2024.
It added the image – which appears to show Netanyahu photographed outside a half-open window – was captured by Hezbollah.
The same image was shared along with similar false claims on Thai, Burmese, Arabic and English.
The posts emerged online after Hezbollah’s top commander, Fouad Shukr, was dead in an Israeli attack in south Beirut, on July 30, 2024 – further fueling fears that the war in Gaza could spread.
Hezbollah has been negotiating almost daily attacks with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s attack on Israel on October 7 triggered the war in Gaza.
The original image, however, was published by Getty Images on February 8, 2009 (archived link).
It was credited to Netanyahu’s Likud party and captioned in part: “In this handout photo, Benjamin Netanyahu (R), head of the right-wing Likud party, talks with his father Ben Zion Netanyahu at his father’s home on February 8, 2009 in Jerusalem.”
The image in the fake posts was digitally doctored to make it appear as if he was being spied on outside a window.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and the original image published by Getty Images photo (right) with the corresponding elements highlighted by AFP:
The image was also published by the English-language magazine Tablet Magazine in his obituary of Netanyahu’s father on April 30, 2012 (archived link)
The AFP has already debunked disinformation related to the Israeli leader here and here.
