FACT CHECK: Facebook Image Does Not Show Authentic BBC Headline About Hamas, Bibas Family

An image shared on Facebook purports to show a BBC headline claiming, “Hamas just wanted to protect the Bibas family.”

Verdict: False

The purported headline is neither referenced on the BBC’s website nor on its verified social media accounts. In addition, a BBC spokesperson denied the claim in an email to Reuters.

Fact Check:

Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza in an attempt to get Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire, according to The Associated Press. Hamas wants to negotiate the second phase of the deal, which includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the outlet reported.

The Facebook image purports to show a BBC headline claiming, “Hamas just wanted to protect the Bibas family.” “Hamas just wanted to protect the Bibas family but Israel killed them – Hamas said,” the purported headline reads. The image of the purported headline appears to include BBC’s logo.

“Hamas strangled the family, all 3. Pelted them [with] rocks posthumously. Kept the bodies for a year. Holds a ‘ceremony’ [with] coffins that have [the] WRONG KEYS, tried to enact another massive bus bombing [the] same day they returned them. They don’t even return Shiri but a dead woman that apparently they don’t care about. And BBC reports THIS,” the image’s caption reads.

The claim is false. Check Your Fact did not find the purported headline via a search of the BBC’s website or its verified social media accounts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not made a statement in response to the claim. President Donald Trump has not publicly commented on the claim, either.

In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim. In fact, the opposite is true. On Feb. 28, Reuters debunked the claim. A BBC spokesperson said the post did not show a “genuine headline” in an email to the outlet.

Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, were taken to Gaza by Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the group’s war with Israel, The Associated Press reported. While Hamas claims the family was killed in an Israeli airstrike, Israel said forensic evidence shows they were killed by Hamas in November 2023, according to the outlet. (RELATED: BBC Clip Is AI Dubbed)

The bodies of all three family members were released as part of a ceasefire deal that paused the war. Yarden Bibas, husband of Shiri and father of Ariel and Kfir, was abducted separately and recently released as part of a different deal, The Associated Press reported.

Check Your Fact has contacted the BBC for comment.