Editor’s note: This story contains graphic content.
Since it began on Oct. 7, the Israel-Hamas war has become the deadliest war for both sides, with more than 4,000 killed. The Gaza Health Ministry says 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 have been wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, have been captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to authorities in Israel.
The VERIFY team has been fact-checking footage from the war since it began.
Recently, we were sent a post on X that claims the Israeli government created a YouTube advertisement about children being killed by Hamas militants.
The post contains a video that features children’s music and images of rainbows, stars and unicorns. The text in the video says the ad is a message for parents, and says “we know that your child cannot read this,” before telling viewers that 40 infants have been murdered by Hamas militants.
Some people online also claim the ad is playing before kid’s videos.
THE QUESTION
Did the Israel Foreign Ministry create a YouTube ad with a message for parents about child deaths in Israel?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, the Israel Foreign Ministry created a YouTube ad with a message for parents about child deaths in Israel. However, Google says the ad is not being played before kids programming or on YouTube Kids.
WHAT WE FOUND
The video is an official advertisement created by the Israeli government, but it’s not running on videos that are targeted to children, according to Google, YouTube’s parent company. The video is targeted toward parents as a call to action to stand with Israel.
“We know that your child cannot read this. We have an important message to tell you as parents. 40 infants were murdered in Israel. By the Hamas terrorists (ISIS). Just as you would do everything for your child. We will do everything to protect ours. Now hug your baby and stand with us,” the text on the video says.
The video was posted on Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry official YouTube account and was shared by Israel’s official TikTok account.
In an email to VERIFY, a spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, said online claims that the video is being aimed at children aren't true.
When someone uploads a video to YouTube, they have to provide information about the content of the video before publishing. For example, the person uploading the video has to check whether the video is made for children before they can publish it to the platform. Age restrictions can also be added to the video.
Google said when it was uploaded, the ad was “appropriately labeled and is not serving on made for kids content or YouTube Kids, nor can it serve to kids.”
Google also said it has strict rules prohibiting age-sensitive ad categories from being shown to kids, including political ads and references to death.
Google said it reviewed this ad to determine if it violates any ad policies, dangerous and derogatory content policies and shocking content policies and “have not taken any enforcement action.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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