Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 26/9/2025; Author: Nerma Šehović
Videos of Hamas violence in Gaza are being shared on social media alongside claims that the humanitarian crisis in the enclave is staged and merely a cover for plans to resettle extremists in Europe. Contrary to these claims, the reality and extensive documented evidence about the war in Gaza prove otherwise.
On September 22, 2025, several disturbing videos of public executions in Gaza were published on the Facebook profile Veritas Ovčice. The videos were posted with a caption questioning the existence of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Right now, after the recognition of PALESTINE
PUBLIC EXECUTIONS
So, after the recognition of Palestine, public executions begin, all filmed with mobile phones, shared online, and celebrated…
According to our media, we thought they were hungry, thirsty, and without electricity… so where do they charge their phones and where do they get the internet?
On the Facebook profile here these videos were posted on September 23, accompanied by claims that the horrors in Gaza were staged so that “butchers and rapists could come to Europe”. The post mentions “Gazawood”, a combination of “Gaza” and “Hollywood”, implying that the situation in the enclave is nothing but an act.
Similar insinuations were published on the Veritas Ovčice profile on September 23, 2025, in a post claiming that the news from Gaza merely conceals the presence of dangerous terrorists who pose a threat to Europe.
Gaza, Hunger, and Genocide
The Gaza Strip has been under constant attack by the Israeli military since October 2023. The attacks began in response to the attack by the militant group Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, in which around 1.200 people were killed and 252 taken hostage. Since then, the Israeli army has carried out continuous air and ground strikes in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 65.000 and wounding over 160.000 people. According to the conflict-monitoring organization ACLED, 15 out of every 16 people killed in Gaza since March of this year were civilians.
Over the past two years, Israel has targeted hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, churches, and residential buildings in Gaza (1, 2, 3, 4).
Israeli forces have completely occupied Gaza and restricted the entry of food, fuel, and medical supplies into the Gaza Strip. In March 2025, they began a total blockade on all humanitarian aid, which lasted 11 weeks and was only partially lifted afterward. This led to mass starvation in Gaza. It is estimated that nearly 500 people have already died of hunger, with thousands more at risk.
The UN, numerous human rights organizations, academics, and legal experts have characterized Israel’s actions in Gaza as an act of genocide against the Palestinian people (1, 2, 3).
There is overwhelming evidence that the atrocities in Gaza are real. Hundreds of thousands of videos and photos show bombings, wounded and killed civilians (1, 2, 3), and thousands of testimonies from Gaza residents as well as international humanitarian workers and doctors who were there at various times. It is absurd to claim that two million residents of Gaza, along with thousands of foreigners who have been there over the past two years, are somehow coordinating a global deception and lying to the world about the horrors they endure. Aside from the logistical impossibility of such an operation, such claims are both grotesque and malicious, serving only to “justify” the crimes committed by Israeli forces against Gaza’s civilian population.
Regarding electricity supply in the Gaza Strip, for years it came from Israel. Since the start of the war, Israel’s power company has repeatedly cut off electricity, forcing residents to rely on generators and solar panels within the Gaza Strip. However, most residents do not have regular access to power (link).
Internet access is also limited across most of Gaza, though some humanitarian organizations have facilitated connectivity by providing residents with donated eSIM cards that allow them to connect to the internet.
Therefore, occasional access to electricity and internet is not “evidence” that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is fake or staged, as claimed in these Facebook posts.
The video of the public execution featured in the analyzed posts is authentic. The execution was carried out by Hamas members, and the men executed were accused of collaborating with Israel. One of them was Yasser Abu Shabab, a leader of a clan operating in the Rafah area against Hamas, allegedly armed by Israel according to both Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Shabab, however, denied that his group received weapons from Israel. This was not the first public execution in Gaza, but it is one of the few that were filmed (link).
Israeli Propaganda, Islamophobia, and Racist Conspiracy Theories
At the very beginning of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, after disturbing videos and reports began circulating online and in the media, a narrative about “Pallywood” or “Gazawood” emerged. Pro-Israeli accounts on social media, as well as Israeli officials, accused Palestinians of faking or exaggerating their suffering. These unsubstantiated accusations included claims of staged videos and hired actors posing as the injured. In some cases, such claims originated from coordinated disinformation networks (1, 2, 3).
This propaganda narrative has very clear goals: to trivialize the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and to justify Israeli crimes.
On social media posts in our language, the “Gazawood” narrative has been combined with another conspiracy theory, the “Great Replacement”. This far-right theory, which gained popularity about 15 years ago in Western Europe and North America, claims that mysterious elites are planning to “replace” white people with populations from other races, primarily those of Middle Eastern and African descent. Its proponents believe that the arrival of migrants from these regions is coordinated and part of this plan, whose ultimate goal is to carry out “genocide against white people”. There is no evidence that this is actually happening.
Claims about the “Great Replacement” are often used to justify violence against racial, national, and religious minorities and to promote racist stereotypes.
The aforementioned posts propagate exactly this narrative, presenting the alleged fabrication of suffering in Gaza as a tool to advance that agenda.
Besides being rooted in racist prejudice, these claims demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the historical and political context of the war in Gaza. Palestinians generally do not want to settle in Europe, or anywhere else, but wish to remain in Palestine and strongly oppose any plans for their displacement (1, 2).Based on the facts, we rate the claim that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is staged as a conspiracy theory. The same rating is given to the claim that it serves as a cover for bringing dangerous groups of people into Europe.
