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Claim: A video shows the Emir of Qatar threatening to cut off the global natural gas supply unless Israel ends its airstrikes in Gaza.
Verdict: The seven-second video is, in fact, a brief excerpt from the emir’s introductory speech at the Doha Forum in 2017. The claim is false.
Full Text
The Israel-Hamas armed conflict is a long-standing and multifaceted struggle between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, characterised by historical, territorial, and political disputes. It has resulted in sporadic violence and enduring tensions. While Israel perceives Hamas as a security threat, Palestinians see it as a resistance movement. International efforts to reach a lasting resolution have been unsuccessful, and the conflict has had significant humanitarian consequences for both sides.
The reignited tension between the two nations began on Oct. 7, 2023. Amid this conflict, which has resulted in the loss of over a thousand lives, a rumour circulated on Facebook that Qatar had announced a global gas supply halt in solidarity with the Palestinians.
This claim supposedly surfaced in a video featuring Qatar’s Emir, Tamim Bin Hamad. It garnered significant attention, circulating widely and appearing on multiple platforms. Given the sensitivity of the issue and its widespread dissemination, DUBAWA opted to verify the credibility of this assertion.
Verification
Qatar ranks among the world’s leading natural gas producers, and typically, an event of this nature would be a subject of national discussion. We examined various mainstream media outlets but could not locate any relevant news.
We then conducted a reverse image search on a keyframe of the viral video. This brought us to Mr Hamad’s opening speech at the Doha Forum in 2017, during which he discussed the Palestinian refugee crisis but did not make the statement that had been circulating.
Likewise, in an email to AP News, The Qatar government verified that the video is from 2017 and was misrepresented.
“This is yet another case of online disinformation against Qatar – such a statement has never been made and never would be,” it wrote.
Conclusion
Not only was this video used out of context, it is just a snippet from Mr Hamad’s introductory speech at the 2017 Doha Forum. The claim is false.
