Several posts have been circulating for months claiming that Liri Albag, one of the young girls held hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, is a TikTok soldier who mocked the Palestinians by dancing in a video. The story came back into circulation following the broadcast of a clip where he was filmed during his capture by Hamas terrorists. The uniform worn in the video and the broadcast of the two images in support of the accusation belie everything: they are two different girls.
For those in a hurry
- The girl in the video is wearing a green hat that identifies her rank in the Israeli army.
- Liri Albag did not have this rank, she had just finished her basic training.
- The video of the dance was released in December 2023, months after its capture by Hamas.
- The clip of the Israeli soldier makes no reference to Palestinians.
Analyzes
The story also circulates verbatim, as shown in the following posts on Twitter/X dated May 22, 2024 (1-2):
“That damn fat woman in blue and with double lenses in her eyes is a stupid IDF soldier who, instead of fighting, danced with her fat lying around. When they say: karma”
“But isn’t that idiot with glasses and a blue sweatshirt an IDF soldier who appeared in a video dancing like crazy in uniform?? 99% yes”
Images of Albag have been circulating for months, as evidenced by a post dated January 9, 2024 which takes an image from the video currently in circulation. As the shared content shows, it was already claimed at the time that she was the soldier protagonist of a music video released by the Israeli army:
KARMA ALWAYS TAKES ITS COURSE:
Israeli soldier Albag, who mocked Palestinians while dancing a few weeks ago, was reportedly taken hostage by Hamas.
The element that refuses the connection
The first thing to consider in the video is the green fodder on the soldier's left shoulder. This is a braided rope that indicates a role within the military.
Here is a description of the role indicated by the green fodder within the Israeli armed forces:
The Green Stringed Fodder Aiguillette is a military award intended for training – training graduates command soldiers, tanks and guide new recruits of Armored Corps Commanders, Graduate Commanders of Relief Commanders (MAGAL) or Air Force, Navy Behavioral Science Diagnostics and IDF Fitness Instructors. and in the Israeli police, the thong (“string”, Aiguillette) is part of the regular uniforms, both work clothes and vacation clothes.
The color of the IDF lanyard/fourragère indicates the occupation or training of a soldier wearing it and is usually worn on the left shoulder.
Used primarily by soldiers occupying various training positions within the IDF.
The role indicated is that of instructor, as can also be seen on the Israeli Army website Mitgaisim.idf.il in the section dedicated to instructors of the artillery department.
This is a role superior to that of Liri Albag, who had just completed basic training in the Israeli army and entered service two days before she was captured.
Liri Albag is different from the girl in the video, as shown in the following image from a video posted by her TikTok account (currently made private).
Publication dates
Besides the role, the TikTok account that posted the video is significant. This is the account”Sharper is better» (@netter__is__better) linked to the Israeli military unit “Meitav” (“מיטב”, which translates to “Better“).
The video on TikTok was posted by “Sharper is better” in December 2023 and is currently deleted, but traces can be found in several social media accounts that picked it up shortly after its publication. Before deletion, some managed to take a screenshot with the date from the post on Tik Tok:
Here is a reel published on December 14, 2023 by the Instagram account “Sta2sim_metzaitzim“.
It was shared the same day by the Twitter account @lirishavit. There are no publications prior to those of December 14, 2023, while the erroneous connections with Liri Albag were only established later.
The pro-Hamas Telegram channel (@HAMASW) published the clip in a post dated January 8, 2024 to associate the young girl with hostage Liri Albag.
In a post dated January 9, 2024, the Telegram channel Hamas-Israel War supports the presence in the video of “Karina Ariev, Liri Elbag, Agam Berger and Daniela Gilboa”.
In fact, the video was first released a few months after the October 7 kidnapping and was later associated with the kidnapped girls.
Far from the place of kidnapping
The military group's TikTok channel also indicates the area where it is located: “SHIVTA”, in southern Israel and more than an hour's drive from where Albag, Nahal Oz, was kidnapped. In this area, as stated on the official website, is the military school where the videos for the TikTok channel are filmed.
Liri Albag's real account
There is a TikTok account belonging to Liri Albag (@liri.albag). It is currently “closed” and its videos are not accessible to the public. In the following screenshot you can see the nickname and the uniform, where the rank worn by the other girl is missing.
Promoting fake news abroad
The same narrative is supported by Syrian regime propaganda, as in the case of Syrian Girl:
Also among the speakers is Twitter/X user “Lord Bebo”. To date, his tweet has gotten over 1.7 million views:
Conclusions
The girl in the TikTok video that is paired with Liri Albag is a different person. The young woman had just finished her training, while the one in the clip had a higher rank than her in the army. The clip was released months after Hamas captured Albag.
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