‘Eyewitnesses’ from Gaza? Many are tweeting from abroad, X transparency tool shows

X said it is testing a further update that could flag users employing VPNs to hide their location, making such manipulations increasingly difficult.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A new feature on X, Elon Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has pulled back the curtain on a sprawling network of fake accounts posing as eyewitnesses from Gaza.

Users claiming to report under bombardment were revealed to be posting from countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom, exposing an online industry of deception and influence almost overnight.

The update, part of X’s broader transparency initiative, adds a small “About this Account” button to profiles, displaying the country of operation, app installation location, account creation date, and the number of username changes.

Users discovered numerous fakes, often masquerading as Palestinian civilians or Israeli soldiers.

One account claiming to be a “Rafah resident living under bombardment” turned out to be tweeting from Afghanistan.

A “sister from Khan Yunis” was actually in Pakistan, a “father of six in a displaced persons camp” lived in Bangladesh, and a “poet from Deir al-Balah” was operating from Russia.

Similar deceptions extended to accounts presenting themselves as Israeli soldiers, some based comfortably in London.

Twitter user Motasem A. Dalloul, presented himself as a “Gaza-based journalist” with a blue checkmark signifying him as a verified X user and Paypal link to support his work.

But a check showed that Dalloul, who has more than 197,000 followers, is based in Poland.

He posted a video purported to show himself walking around ruined buildings, but did not explain why the platform identified him as Polish.

Explaining the new tool, Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, tweeted on Saturday night, “When you read content on X, you should be able to verify its authenticity. This is critical for staying informed about important issues happening in the world. Part of this is showing new information in accounts, including the country an account is located in, among other things.”

The revelation has sparked debate about the broader impact of fabricated accounts. Lt. Col. (res.) Dudi Siman Tov, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, told TPS-IL.

“There is an impact when it comes to fake accounts that supposedly report from Gaza but are not really from there. It is a matter of principle… The motives are simple: to create a false representation, as if these are authentic reports. It is not only in the Gaza context, also regarding impersonating Israelis… malicious interference.”

Media researcher Noam Bannett told TPS-IL that the influence of such accounts is substantial.

“The impact is very large… even if it is a complete lie, when you see something presented in black and white, it penetrates better. That was also the case in Syria, and now in Gaza. People just immediately explode,” he said.

On motivations, he added, “When you talk about Gaza, when you talk about war, there is a much bigger war of consciousness… some are official Hamas people; some are pretending to be civilians to raise funds and influence sentiment.”

Some accounts continue to insist they are genuinely on the ground, despite the location data indicating otherwise.

Users have debated whether video content posted by these accounts might have artificially generated or reused backgrounds.

X said it is testing a further update that could flag users employing VPNs to hide their location, making such manipulations increasingly difficult.

As news of the tool spread on X, some people tweeted instructions on how to change one’s operating country to their continent.

Bannett reflected on the broader implications: “This is not specifically related to Middle East affairs. Social networks have exploded over the last decade, and much content is consumed without verification. When people see familiar characters or videos, the instinct is to believe. Even with location transparency, the challenge is teaching users to critically assess what they see.”