Misinformation

Yair Netanyahu shares fake hostage video

The prime minister's son reposted a video falsely labeled as showing an Israeli child held by Hamas; the boy is actually a Gazan child playing with friends

Gila Isaacson

SEP 28, 2026 10:37

2 min read

Yair Netanyahu, son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has shared a video falsely claiming to show an Israeli child held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The video, originally posted by Eyal Yaakovi, shows a young boy in Gaza being teased by other children, with a caption stating that "this is how Palestinian children in Gaza treated a young Israeli held hostage by Hamas."

The claim is false. The boy in the video is not Israeli but a Gazan child.

Yair Netanyahu frequently reposts content related to October 7, including posts praising his father and attacking former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.

The post shared by Yair Netanyahu (Screenshot)

Shortly after the October 7 massacre, Israeli advocacy activist Noa Magid took on the task of documenting and disseminating footage and testimonies from the attack.

Magid addressed the video directly: "The child in this video is not an Israeli kidnapped on October 7. He is an Arab child playing 'hostages' with his friends and calling 'Ima, Ima' in Hebrew, while his friends mock him about his mother's identity. The original video was even removed from TikTok."

"I understand the good intentions," Magid wrote, "but please do not spread false information about this video."

Social media users were quick to criticize Netanyahu, claiming he is causing significant damage to the State of Israel by spreading misinformation.