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Video fact-check

The truth about Hamas and the hostages

12 claims checked · Published September 2026 · Checked September 2026

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Every claim, checked

  1. Claim 1
    Unverifiable50% confidence▶ 0:05
    “Netanyahu received an explicit warning days before October the 7th. He didn't brief Israel's security chiefs.”

    Haaretz reported that Netanyahu received an explicit warning before October 7 and did not brief Israel’s security chiefs.

    Haaretz reported the warning and alleged failure to brief the security chiefs, but Netanyahu’s office explicitly denied receiving such a warning. The underlying claim is therefore publicly disputed rather than established.

    The checker returned Contested but could not quote a source on each side of the dispute, so this is recorded as unverifiable.

    Sources

  2. Claim 2
    Unverifiable50% confidence▶ 0:14
    “Apparently, the president of the UAE, Muhammad bin Zed, called the Prime Minister of Israel and told him to be ready for a quote major event from Hamas.”

    The UAE president reportedly called Netanyahu about a planned major Hamas operation before October 7.

    The claim matches the account published by Haaretz and repeated by AP and Le Monde, but Netanyahu’s office denied that the call or warning occurred. The public evidence supports a live dispute, not a settled fact.

    The checker returned Contested but cited only one institution for both sides of the dispute, so this is recorded as unverifiable.

    Checked twice, independently: the first pass returned Unverifiable and the second Contested. Recorded as Unverifiable.

    Sources

  3. Claim 3
    Accurate99% confidence▶ 0:44
    “either he didn't believe it or he wanted to see what they could plan so that then he could come down hard.”

    Hillary Clinton suggested that Netanyahu may have wanted Hamas to carry out a larger operation so he could respond forcefully.

    Clinton made this conditional suggestion in a September 2026 interview. The statement is accurately attributed to her, although it was speculation rather than a claim supported by established evidence.

    Sources

  4. Claim 4
    Unverifiable50% confidence▶ 1:03
    “It's where Haret also confirms that Hamas was ready to release all the civilian hostages. Not weeks or months later, but on October the 7th itself at 7 p.m.”

    Haaretz reported that Hamas offered to release all civilian hostages on the evening of October 7, 2023.

    The available reporting says Haaretz described an offer transmitted through Qatari and other intermediaries at about 7 p.m. on October 7. The existence and sincerity of the offer cannot be independently confirmed from the public evidence identified here.

    Checked twice, independently: the first pass returned Unverifiable and the second Accurate. Recorded as Unverifiable.

    Sources

  5. Claim 5
    Unverifiable50% confidence▶ 1:17
    “Hamas is ready to release all civilians now and we are prepared to mediate.”

    The Qatari prime minister told the Mossad director that Hamas was ready to release all civilians immediately and that Qatar could mediate.

    This wording is reproduced in reporting about the Haaretz investigation and is attributed to the Qatari prime minister’s alleged message to David Barnea. The public record available here does not independently establish that the communication occurred or that Hamas could in fact have delivered all civilian hostages immediately.

    Checked twice, independently: the first pass returned Unverifiable and the second Accurate. Recorded as Unverifiable.

    Sources

  6. Claim 6
    Unverifiable50% confidence▶ 1:33
    “there was a message sent from Hamas leader Yahwa who had no problem releasing all civilians without anything in return.”

    A message attributed to Yahya Sinwar said Hamas had no problem releasing all civilians without anything in return, apart from beginning negotiations through a mediator.

    The report cited by the speaker says Sinwar’s associate conveyed that Hamas would release civilians without an exchange, with an agreed mediator as the condition. This is an intermediary’s account and has not been independently verified in the available evidence.

    Checked twice, independently: the first pass returned Unverifiable and the second Accurate. Recorded as Unverifiable.

    Sources

  7. Claim 7
    Misleading50% confidence▶ 1:50
    “Netanyahu doesn't want to talk about anything. He only wants war and the elimination of Hamas was the message from Israeli security officials to Palestinian and Qatari intermediaries.”

    The Israeli response reported by an intermediary was that Netanyahu did not want talks and wanted war and Hamas’s elimination.

    The Haaretz-based account does contain wording that Netanyahu wanted war and Hamas’s elimination, but it characterizes this as an unofficial answer transmitted through intermediaries. Presenting it as a definitive message from Israeli security officials and as Netanyahu’s established intention overstates the evidence.

    Omits: The cited report describes this as an unofficial answer relayed through intermediaries, not as a verified direct statement by Netanyahu or a formal consensus of all Israeli security officials.

    Checked twice, independently: the first pass returned Misleading and the second Accurate. Recorded as Misleading.

    Sources

  8. Claim 8
    Contested50% confidence▶ 1:59
    “For the past 3 years of this genocide, we have been told by the people in power”

    The Gaza war has been a genocide for roughly three years.

    A UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel committed genocide, while Israel rejects that conclusion and the ICJ has issued provisional measures rather than a final merits ruling. Because the legal characterization is actively disputed by named institutions, the claim is contested.

    Concluded by The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel concluded in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.Rejected or unresolved by The Israeli government has rejected the genocide allegation; the International Court of Justice has not issued a final merits judgment in the South Africa v. Israel case.

    The intensifier “genocide” is judged as a legal characterization, not merely as a description of severe civilian suffering. The UN commission reached that conclusion, while Israel rejects it and the ICJ case remains unresolved on the merits.

    Sources

    • 1Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission of Inquiry finds

      SupportsThe Commission analysed statements made by Israeli authorities and concluded that those statements are direct evidence of genocidal intent.

    • 2Order of 26 January 2024

      RefutesIsrael considers that South Africa has misrepresented the facts on the ground and observes that its efforts to mitigate harm when conducting operations and to alleviate hardship and suffering through humanitarian activities in Gaza serve to dispel  or at the very least, militate against  any allegation of genocidal intent.

  9. Claim 9
    Accurate50% confidence▶ 2:52
    “blocked food and medicines from going into the strip”

    Israeli authorities have at times blocked or severely restricted food and medicine from entering Gaza.

    UN reporting documents periods in which aid and commercial supplies, including food and medicine, were completely blocked or severely restricted from entering Gaza. The statement is supported when read as referring to such periods, not as saying that no supplies ever entered.

    Sources

  10. Claim 10
    Contested50% confidence▶ 3:19
    “a deal to release the civilian hostages had been on the table from day one of this genocide, but the Israeli government had rejected it.”

    Israel's military campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide.

    The genocide classification is an active dispute among named institutions. Amnesty International has concluded that Israel committed genocide, while Israel's president and government reject that characterization; the ICJ proceedings had not produced a final merits judgment in the sources reviewed.

    Concluded by Amnesty International concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.Rejected or unresolved by The President of Israel and the Israeli government have publicly denied that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

    Checked twice, independently: the first pass returned Contested and the second Accurate. Recorded as Contested.

    Sources

  11. Claim 11
    Accurate99% confidence▶ 3:38
    “It's the view of Heim Rubenstein who until very recently was a spokesman for the families of the Israeli hostages”

    Haim Rubinstein was, until shortly before the statement, the spokesman for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

    The Times of Israel reported that Rubinstein assumed the Forum's spokesperson role and resigned as its spokesman in March 2024, shortly before the April 2024 interview cited in the reporting.

    Sources

  12. Claim 12
    Misleading50% confidence▶ 3:45
    “we learned that Hamas offered on October 9th or 10th to release all the captive civilians in its hands if the IDF did not enter the Gaza Strip but the government rejected the offer.”

    Hamas offered to release all civilian hostages on October 9 or 10, 2023, if the IDF did not enter Gaza, and the Israeli government rejected the offer.

    The Times of Israel accurately reported Rubinstein making this claim, but that article did not independently establish the exact date, terms, or government decision. A Congressional Research Service account records that on October 10 Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said negotiations over hostages would not occur until the conflict ended, while later reporting describes an earlier offer with disputed conditions; therefore the exact formulation is not established as stated.

    Omits: The claim omits that the October 9–10 account is a retrospective statement by Rubinstein, while contemporaneous records describe different conditions and statements; the later Haaretz reporting says the early offer’s terms were disputed, including whether Hamas demanded that Israel halt its incursion.

    Checked twice, independently: the first pass returned Accurate and the second Misleading. Recorded as Misleading.

    Sources