Some of the latest images to flood social media and newswires are that of Gazan father Mohamed Abuel-Qomasan, whose wife and days-old twin children were reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike. Here are some of the media reports about it:
Assuming his wife and kids were tragically killed, we still do not know exactly what happened. If true they were killed, what I am sure about is they were not deliberately targeted, but are unfortunate collateral damage.
But I do have question marks surrounding the story, given someone who looks completely different to the above man is being touted elsewhere as the father in question:
The two men appear next to each other in another photo, with the first man labelled as the father:
Of course, the inconsistencies surrounding the father’s identity doe not prove the wife and kids weren’t killed, but does raise question marks.
At the very least, it might point to the sloppiness of the mainstream media in publishing things without due diligence.
Meanwhile, in another example as to why one needs to exercise extreme caution when presented with images supposedly from Gaza, Adelaide Festival director Louise Adler has been caught tweeting out an AI-generated image:
I disagree. I can think of two specific words appropriate to say to her right about now.
