What is the truth about the photos circulating as showing an Israeli officer named (Yair Shalam) after the Palestinian resistance arrested him?
Two photos were circulated on social media platforms claiming to show an Israeli officer named Yair Shalam, who served as commander of the attack on the Bureij camp, before and after the Palestinian resistance factions recently arrested him.
The truth:
The two photos belong to two different individuals and not to an Israeli officer named (Yair Shalam), and are as follows:
- The photo of the person with the Israeli flag behind him, to the left, belongs to former Major General (Yair Golan), the former deputy chief of staff in the so-called “Israeli Defense Forces,” who we noticed is still active on his social media accounts. He published the last post on his accounts until the publication of this investigation last night, Sunday, October 29, 2023, at 8:50 PM.
- The photo of the person appearing in military uniform, to the right, belongs to the pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and businessman (Viktor Medvedchuk) during his arrest by the Ukrainian Security Service last year.
- A photo of another man in military uniform was also circulated, and it was claimed that it showed the alleged Israeli officer (Yair Shalam). When we verified it, it turned out that it belonged to (Herzi Halevi), the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army. It was taken on October 23, 2023, during an evaluation meeting held at the Israeli army headquarters in Tel Aviv. There is no truth to his arrest by the Palestinian factions.
None of the Palestinian resistance factions recently announced the arrest of an Israeli officer who led an attack on the Bureij camp in southern Gaza in the name of (Yair Shalam), and there is no reliable source to prove the validity of this. Also, when searching for the name of the alleged officer, we did not find any results proving the validity of the widespread claim.