Video claiming Israeli politicians in tears over ceasefire is from 2023
Video originally published more than a year before the events it purports to depict
CLAIM
Videos show members of the Israeli parliament in tears after a ceasefire with Hamas is agreed and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigns.
BACKGROUND
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on January 19, 2025. The agreement signalled a halt in hostilities that broke out with the October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group, and the response by Israel that left tens of thousands dead and much of Gaza in ruins. There was some opposition within Israel to the deal, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigning in protest and several other politicians expressing concerns.
An X account with a follower count listed at over 600,000 posted footage on January 20 described as showing members of Israel’s legislature, the Knesset, crying because of the ceasefire. It also appeared to contain a suggestion — albeit awkwardly phrased — that Ben Gvir’s resignation had contributed to the upset.
At the time of writing, the statistics listed under the post recorded it as having been viewed almost 280,000 times, with 1,900 reposts.
METHOD
Within the first few hours after the video was posted, replies appeared calling its veracity into question. Some of these claimed that the scenes showed the response of legislators who had been shown video of the aftermath of the October 7 attacks.
Using Google Lens to search a still from the video returned multiple results. While some of these linked to posts repeating the claim that the legislators were distressed over the ceasefire and resignation, others were posted on November 1, 2023.
Among these were several instances of a video that was clearly the same as that shared on January 20. A version shared on Instagram was accompanied by a caption reading: “Today 56 members of the Knesset were invited to watch a 46 min film showing the horrific things that took place during the H@mas massacre on Oct. 7th. The video was compiled by the IDF using primarily Hamas Go pro and camera footage.”
News articles published the same day made reference to the event.
The fact that the video itself dated from at least November 1, 2023 — long before any ceasefire talks — shows that the claim made in the January 20 X post cannot be accurate, regardless of what is shown in the video. Furthermore, multiple news sources have described the scenes as showing legislators distressed at having watched scenes of the aftermath of the Hamas attacks.
RATING
The video has been misrepresented. It was originally published more than a year before the events it purports to depict, and has been reported by multiple media outlets in a different context.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: Knesset members cry over the ceasefire deal and Ben Gvir is gone
[Accessed 27 Jan. 2025].
Instagram/@natasharaquel (2023) Today 56 members of the Knesset were invited to watch a 46 min film showing the horrific things that took place during the H@mas massacre on Oct. 7th [Accessed 27 Jan. 2025].
The Times of Israel (2023) MKs are shown raw videos of Hamas atrocities; some leave in tears The Times of Israel [Accessed 27 Jan. 2025].