Original article (in BCS) was published on 14/12/2023; Author: Mladen Lakić
A report claiming an assassination attempt on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas emerged on social media and in some news outlets. A video claiming to depict this event has been misrepresented.
On November 7, 2023, a news website named Vijesti published a story headlined “Shots fired at Mahmoud Abbas’s Convoy, Bodyguard Killed?” The report detailed an alleged shooting targeting the convoy of Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestine, during which one of his bodyguards reportedly lost his life.
Shots were fired at the convoy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. One of Abbas’ bodyguards was shot dead, and the organization called “Sons of Abu Jandal” claimed responsibility for the attack.
Further, the article referenced a post from a platform called X (previously known as Twitter). This post included a brief video, 13 seconds long, accompanied by an English description alleging an assassination attempt on Abbas. The video appears to show an exchange of gunfire between two groups, with one individual seen falling to the ground.
At the time of this analysis, the original article on the Vijesti website had been removed. However, before its deletion, it was circulated with slight modifications by other sources, including Source, Magazin plus and Info dan.
On the same day, the online news outlet Etto released a report titled “Circulating footage of the alleged assassination of Mahmoud Abbas: Palestinians denied everything”. The opening segment of this piece asserts the claim of an assassination attempt, followed by a denial from Palestinian sources refuting its occurrence.
Assassination attempt on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas! One of Abbas’s companions was killed
Shots were fired at the convoy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
One of Abbas’ bodyguards was shot dead, and an organization called “Sons of Abu Jandal” claimed responsibility for the attack.
In their articles published on November 7, 2023, Avaz and Hayat also reported on allegations that an assassination had been attempted, but specifying that it was a recording of an alleged assassination and that Palestinian sources deny that the event took place (1, 2).
On November 7, 2023, both Avaz and Hayat, in their respective reports, covered the rumored assassination attempt on the Palestinian president. They clarified that the reports were based on a video purportedly showing the assassination, but that Palestinian sources have refuted the occurrence of such an event (1, 2).
Allegations of an assassination attempt on the Palestinian president were also shared on Facebook. Some posts discussed the assassination without any video evidence (1, 2), while others included the recording purporting to show the incident (1, 2).
What does the video show?
An online search for footage from a video allegedly showing an assassination attempt on Mahmoud Abbas, President of Palestine, led us to the Khabar24 Facebook page. This media outlet had posted a video featuring the same scenes as the analyzed footage. Dated November 7, 2023, the video was described as depicting a violent clash between police forces and a criminal faction in a refugee camp near Ramallah, located in the West Bank.
France 24 Observers wrote about this in an article published on November 9, 2023:
Khabar24 states in its publications that a commander in the security forces of the Palestinian Authority was injured in a shootout with a criminal group in the Jalazone camp during an attempt to arrest a drug dealer.
Istinomer, a Serbian fact-checking website, corroborated these findings in their November 30, 2023, analysis. They confirmed that the video actually captures a confrontation between police and local drug dealers in the West Bank, contradicting claims of an assassination attempt against the Palestinian President.
In their analysis, Istinomer cited a statement from the spokesperson for the Palestinian Security Forces. This official confirmed the incident was indeed a police operation, countering the narrative of an assassination attempt on the President of Palestine.
Talal Dweikat, the spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, spoke about the spread of disinformation about the viral video — more precisely, that the video does not show an assassination attempt on Mahmoud Abbas.
In his announcement on Facebook from November 7, Dveikat stated that the name of the suspected criminal is Bil Abu Asabu, as well as that six members of the police, were injured during the arrest operation, one of whom is in critical condition.
Similarly, Fact Crescendo arrived at the same conclusion in their analysis released on November 15, 2023.
Extensive internet search revealed no reliable media reports supporting the claim of an assassination attempt on the Palestinian President during the mentioned timeframe.
After the article about the assassination was deleted, a new one was published on the web portal Vijesti, stating that the assassination attempt was denied.
Did the “Sons of Abu Jandal” claim responsibility for the attack?
In its article, France 24 Observers noted that the “Sons of Abu Jandal” group was not previously known to the public. Additionally, the article highlighted that a French-Algerian journalist was among those who linked this group to the purported assassination attempt.
In the same article, it was clarified that there is a document dated November 5, the authenticity of which has not been confirmed, in which this group allegedly issues an ultimatum to the President of Palestine, demanding that action be taken against Israel within 24 hours. Otherwise, the document states, the group will “consider mutiny”. The aforementioned French-Algerian journalist shared the document in the X post.
French-Algerian journalist Mohamed Sifaui, along with others, claims that this (fake) assassination attempt is the work of a Palestinian group known as the “Sons of Abu Jandal”.
This Palestinian group was unknown until now. It is said to consist of members of the Palestinian Authority security forces, who are affiliated with Fatah.
So, the video in the analyzed articles and posts from social networks does not show an attempt to assassinate the President of Palestine, but a showdown between the security forces and a criminal gang. Additionally, there are no official confirmations or credible media reports that there was even an assassination attempt on the Palestinian leader.
The allegation that the group “Sons of Abu Jandal” claimed responsibility for the attack was derived from posts on social networks linking this group to the assassination.
Accordingly, the claim that there was an attempt to assassinate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and that a bodyguard was killed on that occasion is incorrect. It was originally published on the web portal Vijesti, but that article has been deleted. We evaluate all subsequent publications of these claims in articles by other media as the distribution of fake news.
We rate the earliest available Facebook post with identical claims about the assassination as fake news, and all subsequent posts as distribution of fake news.
We assess the claim that responsibility for the attack was “claimed by the ‘Sons of Abu Jandal’” as a manipulation of facts.