Fact Check: Viral Post’s Claim That Hamas Vandalise A Church In Gaza Is Fabricated

A video showing people vandalising a church is being circulated on social media claiming that Hamas Vandalising a Baptist church in Gaza.

The post was shared with a caption: “#HamasTerrorists destroying a Baptist Church in #Gaza city and kicking the statue of Jesus , is this their fight to reclaim their land or is it Jihad against every other religion in this world, ask yourselves !! #HamasWarCrimes #GazaChurch #HamasISIS #IsraelUnderAttack #IsraelFightsBack #Israel #Palestine #Gaza #JihadAgainstJews #Jewsunderattack”

Here’s the link to the above post.

FACT CHECK 

NewsMobile fact-checked the post, and found it to be false.

Putting the video keyframes through Reverse Image Search, the NM team traced a video report in the New York Post, dated Jun 6, 2017, with a title: “ISIS defaces and destroys a Catholic church in the Philippines | New York Post.”

The video description reads: Islamic extremists defaced a Catholic church in the Philippines, destroying many religious relics and setting the altar on fire. The video was released by the Amaq News Agency, an affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist network, captured in Marawi.

IBTimes UK also shared the same video in 2017 with the description: ” Militants in Marawi, Philippines, released a propaganda video showing them destroying a church. The Pro-ISIS fighters knocked over statues and tore up photos of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict. In other parts of the video, a narrator condemned the Filipino government for working with the US and their “regional guard dog” Australia in the fight against the militants. Fighters from the Maute group seized control of Marawi in May. Over 400,000 people have been displaced in the violent fight between military and the militants.”

Therefore, the viral video’s claim that Hamas Vandalising a Baptist church in Gaza is fabricated.