Briahna Joy Gray rolls her eyes at a plea from the sister of hostage Romi Gonen, who is being held by Hamas, during a June 2024 interview. (The Hill/Screenshot)
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Since October 7, extremists and conspiracy theorists have promoted mis- and disinformation narratives about the reality of Hamas’s unprecedented, multi-pronged attack on Israel, attempting to deny or minimize the tragedy and shift the blame towards victims, a majority of whom were innocent civilians.
These misleading or false claims — many of which have proliferated on mainstream social media platforms — manipulate and distort the facts of the mass assault, invalidate the pain of victims and their families, and fuel hateful rhetoric that puts Jews and Israelis at risk of real-world harm.
The ADL Center on Extremism unpacked some prominent false narratives across social media.
FALSE NARRATIVE: Israel was responsible for the October 7 attack
On social media, anti-Israel conspiracy theorists and extremists have used a variety of claims to construct the broader false narrative that Israel—not Hamas—was responsible for the mass killing spree on October 7, despite Hamas claiming responsibility for the attack and terrorists filming themselves committing the acts.
Hours after news broke of Hamas’s incursion into southern Israel, antisemitic and white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes suggested the attack was “suspicious,” casting doubt that the Israeli government would have been caught off guard by Hamas’s attack, and alluding to how it could garner global sympathy for Israel’s own political benefit.
Antisemitic and white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes suggests the attacks on October 7 were “suspicious.” (Telegram)
On social media platforms like X, users shared unfounded claims that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intentionally fired on their own civilians at the Supernova music festival on October 7 via “Apache helicopters,” posting aerial footage of the supposed attack. This clip was used in attempts to discredit and minimize documented images of terribly burned victims and vehicles in and around the festival.
Anti-Zionist influencer “Syrian Girl” shares conspiracy theory about “Apache helicopters.” (X)
In reality, the footage in question was released by the IDF on October 9 and shows the IDF engaging in airstrikes on Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip on October 8. Notably, there have been other reports about civilians inadvertently injured during Israel’s military response to the Hamas attack that day; IDF representatives have indicated that they would investigate these matters further.
However, claims that the footage shows IDF helicopters firing on Supernova attendees are false, and there is ample visual evidence and testimony of Hamas attacking attendees and workers at the festival on October 7.
Some have claimed that the IDF knew about the attacks ahead of time and changed the location of the festival to put “human shields” in front of a legitimate military target (The Re’im military base is just down the road from the Nova location) or to hide that it was staged military operation. There is no evidence to back this claim, which seems to have stemmed from the fact that the festival's location was changed two days before October 7. At the time, the IDF reluctantly approved the permit for the event — although some in the military did express concerns about possible rocket attacks.
An IDF investigation concluded Hamas likely did not have prior knowledge of the music festival, and spontaneously decided to attack. Conspiracists have concluded that much of the carnage from that day was perpetrated by the IDF.
FALSE NARRATIVE: Images showing aftermath of October 7 attacks were fabricated
In the days and weeks following October 7, images and videos showing the graphic and violent aftermath of Hamas’s attacks circulated on social media. Despite an abundance of evidence, conspiracy theorists quickly cast doubt on the validity and veracity of the photos and videos in question, suggesting instead that the content was fabricated by propagandists to exaggerate the severity of the attacks.
As officials released photos of the bloodied floors and beds inside Israeli homes where families were killed, conspiracy theorists suggested that Israel “staged” the graphic scenes, alleging that the blood looked fake or that photos of blood did not prove the existence of “real victims” in Israel.
False claims like this are not uncommon following wars, shootings and other forms of mass violence. There is ample evidence including photos and videos that explicitly show Hamas murdering Israeli civilians and foreign workers and nationals; journalists have even attended screenings of this footage—some of which was taken directly from the bodycams of Hamas terrorists.
A viral post on X from October 2023 with a conspiratorial claim that photos of the bloody aftermath of the October 7 attack were staged. (X)
On X, 4chan, Telegram and other platforms, users suggested that images of burnt bodies and human remains were AI-generated, claiming that “AI-detector tools” flagged them as such. Various experts in generative AI and disinformation continue to warn against using these tools, many of which are still in their infancy and regularly produce false positives or unreliable results.
A far-right channel on Telegram shares a false claim about the image of a body from the October 7 attack being AI-generated. (Telegram)
FALSE NARRATIVE: Victims of October 7 were not sexually assaulted
Extremists, conspiracy theorists and even political commentators have declared that victims of October 7 are lying about being sexually assaulted by Hamas, despite widespread evidence and witness testimony of mass sexual violence and rape. These false narratives continue to circulate both online and offline.
Many influencers and activists wrote off the reported sexual assaults as “atrocity propaganda” by Israel, which proponents claim is a tactic to distract the public from the war and to unfairly demonize Hamas.
Anti-Zionist outlet Electronic Intifada casts doubt on sexual assault stories, calling it “atrocity propaganda.” (Electronic Intifada and YouTube)
Left-wing influencers such as political commentator and podcaster Briahna Joy Gray have also claimed that there is no evidence to support accounts of sexual assault following October 7.
In December 2023, Gray wrote on X, “Believe all women’ was always an absurd overreach: woman [sic] should be heard, claims should be investigated, but evidence is required. The same is true of the allegations out of Israel. But also, this isn’t a ‘believe women’ scenario bc [sic] no female victims have offered testimony.” A few months later, on June 4, 2024, Gray hosted Yarden Gonen—the sister of 23-year-old Romi Gonen, a hostage currently being held by Hamas — on an episode of The Hill’s “Rising.” When Gonen begged Gray to believe the testimonies of women who were assaulted and kidnapped, Gray rolled her eyes in response.
Two days later, Gray announced that she had been fired from The Hill.
Briahna Joy Gray rolls her eyes at a plea from the sister of hostage Romi Gonen, who is being held by Hamas, during a June 2024 interview. (The Hill/Screenshot)
FALSE NARRATIVE: Hamas didn’t kill any civilians on October 7 because there weren’t any—or they were killed unintentionally
Conspiracy theorists have attempted to absolve Hamas of any wrongdoing by claiming that they didn’t target or kill any civilians on October 7. In some cases, some have claimed that there is no such thing as an Israeli civilian.
Immediately after the attacks, Hamas spokesperson Basem Naim flatly denied that Hamas killed civilians at all. On and off social media, anti-Israel activists and protestors defended Hamas’s actions, with some echoing actual Hamas talking points that imply that because the IDF is a conscription army, there cannot be a truly civilian population, and therefore everyone is fair game as a potential military target.
An excerpt from a document sent out by Hamas explaining its views on the October 7 attack, uploaded to Palestine Chronicle. (Palestine Chronicle)
Others such as National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) claimed that “settlers” are not civilians in the “sense of international law, because they are military assets.” Aaron Bushnell, who self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy in DC on February 4, 2024, said in a Reddit post before his death that “There are no Israeli ‘civilians’; or tourists who have no part in the oppression of Palestine.”
This interpretation of international humanitarian law is so mendacious that even Palestinian historian Rashid Khalidi, who has justified the October 7 attack, rejected it.
An excerpt from a "Day of Resistance toolkit" document distributed by NSJP after the October 7 attack. (National Students for Justice in Palestine)
FALSE NARRATIVE: Hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 were treated well and adored their captors
In late November, 105 of the 252 hostages abducted by Hamas were released during a temporary seven-day ceasefire, which ended on December 1. Footage of their release was captured by both Hamas and by journalists in Israel. The fate of many of the remaining hostages in Gaza is still unknown, though it is suspected that a large number are dead.
Since the November release, unfortunately, many have weaponized and distorted the footage to depict Hamas as gracious hosts, suggesting that hostages “adored” their captors.
On TikTok, X and other platforms, users pushed the idea that one of the 105 freed hostages — Israeli teenager Maya Regev — was in love with one of her captors due to a video clip in which she waves goodbye to a Hamas operative while getting into a van. Some interpreted her body language and expression as indicators of affection, showing images of her alongside phrases like, “Find yourself a woman who looks at you like this.” Regev testified to the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality in April 2024, that every female captive in Gaza “goes through sexual harassment in some form or another.” Other freed hostages have given similar accounts.
Anti-Zionist influencer Benjamin Rubinstein makes a suggestive comment about an Israeli hostage and her captors. (X)
Another false narrative of exceptional treatment centered around nine-year-old former hostage Emily Hand, whose behavior has changed drastically since her return from captivity. According to an interview with her sister, Emily now offers her food to others around her before eating it herself, as hostages did while in captivity.
On social media, users took this information to mean that Hamas “taught her manners,” downplaying the gravity of Emily’s kidnapping and time as a hostage.
In June 2024, after an intense rescue effort, Almog Meir Jan was returned to Israel, later telling Israeli outlet Kan news that his captors “cynically” made him a birthday cake during his time in captivity. On social media, users suggested this was a kindness on the captors’ part, and further evidence that Hamas terrorists treated hostages well, despite testimonies from former captives that they were malnourished and abused physically and psychologically.
Instagram commenters make sarcastic remarks about the Israel hostage Almog Meir Jan's “birthday cake” while in captivity. (Instagram)