Controversial video and thousands of views. Hamas captured two Saudi soldiers in Gaza?

Many foreigners have been killed, injured or taken hostage by Hamas since the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

In recent days, a video appeared on social media which, according to the editors, depicted Saudi soldiers participating in Israeli army operations in Gaza and being arrested by Hamas.

However, the video actually belongs to Saudi soldiers captured by Houthi rebels in Yemen in 2017.

The video shows two men claiming to have been captured, informing their families that they are safe and calling for their release.

The accompanying commentary stated: “The Palestinian resistance has captured Saudi Arabian soldiers who participated with the Israeli army in the ground attack on Gaza.”

The video received thousands of views from several social media pages, as the Israeli army’s ground operations and intense shelling in the Gaza Strip continued.

Many foreigners have been killed, injured or taken hostage by Hamas since the movement’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

According to the Israeli army, Hamas is holding 241 Israelis, dual citizens and foreigners hostage, among whom four women were released and one female soldier was freed during a ground operation, according to Israeli authorities.

Saudi Arabia and Israel

Nearly 3 years after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized their relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia was close to historic normalization with Israel too, before Hamas fighters launched their surprise attack on the early last month, which prompted Riyadh to suspend discussions that were taking place under American auspices.

Riyadh has always emphasized that achieving this goal depends on the implementation of the two-state solution with the Palestinians and a just solution to the refugee issue. But Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, speaking on Fox News two months ago, limited himself to referring to “the importance of the Palestinian issue” for the Kingdom.

However, the video circulating has nothing to do with the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Searching for a photo of one of the two men shown in the clip leads to the full version posted on news sites and several social media pages six years ago.

Accompanying comments stated that the video belongs to two Saudi soldiers captured by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Several news sites at the time reported the news on September 22, 2017.

Since 2014, Yemen has been the scene of a war between the Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the government, which intensified with the intervention of Saudi Arabia at the head of the military coalition in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government, after the rebels they had taken control of the country. control of large areas, including Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia is holding peace talks with Houthi rebels as part of the revival of relations between Riyadh and Tehran, the two competing regional powers in the Middle East.

According to the United Nations, the war in Yemen has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and displaced millions. More than three-quarters of the population depends on international aid, which continues to decline.