Claim:
A photograph authentically shows a destroyed toilet after a Hezbollah operative "blew up" while going to the bathroom, amid September 2024 attacks via pagers in Lebanon and Syria.
Rating:
Miscaptioned ( About this rating? )
Context:
The photograph is from 2020 and shows a toilet in Hong Kong.
A photograph supposedly showing a destroyed toilet after a Hezbollah operative was killed in an explosion while going to the bathroom circulated in September 2024, amid attacks via thousands of pagers belonging to the armed group Hezbollah. The communication devices exploded in Lebanon and Syria over two days— resulting in at least 37 deaths and thousands of injuries, including civilians.
Hundreds of accounts shared the photograph (archived here and here ), including some pro-Israel accounts, with one post stating, "Some Hezbollah operative blew up while taking a dump." Another post stated , "The Lebanese cuisine is brutal."
(X user @NiohBerg)
The image does not show the aftermath of a Hezbollah operative "blowing up" amid the September 2024 attacks. The image has been on the internet since January 2020 and reportedly shows the aftermath of an explosion in a Hong Kong bathroom that month. We have labeled this image incorrectly captioned.
Using Google's reverse-image search tool, we traced the photograph to a news article by the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper . Using the acronym "IED" for "improvised explosive device" — a term that refers to a "homemade" bomb and/or destructive device — the article's headline stated, "Unexploded IED found at Shenzhen border control point, after suspected bomb destroys second Hong Kong toilet in 24 hours."
The photograph's caption stated that the toilet was destroyed in January 2020: "A suspected improvised explosive device destroyed a public toilet at the King George V Memorial Park on Jordan Road in West Kowloon on January 27." According to the article , the device was found in a garbage can hours after the pictured toilet was set ablaze:
Monday night's attack also came to light thanks to a cleaner, who called police at 10.50pm after discovering a toilet ablaze in Kowloon's King George V Memorial Park.
Noticing a strange odour, the cleaner had walked towards the public toilet, where she saw two people run out of a stall for the disabled.
No one was injured in the fire, but a toilet seat was seriously damaged.
Officers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit arriving at the scene collected two cans and a glass bottle, among other items, as evidence. A police source said the case, which has been classified as arson, was believed to have been the result of an improvised incendiary device.
The incident occurred amid anti-government pro-democracy protests across Hong Kong. The article provided no further details about the explosion, such as if anyone was arrested.
On Sept. 17, 2024, pagers belonging to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon and Syria exploded , killing at least 12 people and injuring around 2,750. Then, a day later , another wave of explosions struck communication devices in Lebanon, resulting in 25 deaths and around 450 injuries. The Iranian-backed armed group accused Israel of orchestrating the blasts. Israel and Hezbollah have been attacking each other on the Lebanon-Israel border since the beginnin g of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 , 2023. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its role in the September 2024 explosions. Anonymous defense and intelligence officials told The New York Times Israelis were behind them.
While some people who died or were injured in the explosions were members of Hezbollah, many were not. The detonations killed at least four children. The simultaneous blasts took place in residences, grocery stores, barber shops and even funerals, according to Al Jazeera . Human-rights lawyers called the attacks a violation of the laws of war .
Sources:
Cheung, Tony. "Unexploded IED found at Shenzhen border control point, after suspected bomb destroys second Hong Kong toilet in 24 hours—South China Morning Post." LINE TODAY, https://today.line.me/hk/v2/article/L9rVnj . Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Evon, Dan. "Snopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches." Snopes, 22 Mar. 2022, https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/. " target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/.">https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Frenkel, Sheera, et al. "How Israel Built a Modern-Day Trojan Horse: Exploding Pagers." The New York Times, 18 Sept. 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/world/middleeast/israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah.html. " target="blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/world/middleeast/israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah.html.">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/world/middleeast/israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Harb, Ali. "Do Lebanon Explosions Violate the Laws of War?" Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/18/do-lebanon-explosions-violate-the-laws-of-war . Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
"IED Attack: Improvised Explosive Devices." Department of Homeland Security , https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/prep_ied_fact_sheet.pdf. " target="blank">https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/prep_ied_fact_sheet.pdf.">https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/prep_ied_fact_sheet.pdf. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
"IED Found at Border Point, after Another Suspected Toilet Bomb." South China Morning Post, 28 Jan. 2020, https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3047898/unexploded-ied-found-shenzhen-border-control-point. " target="blank">https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3047898/unexploded-ied-found-shenzhen-border-control-point.">https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3047898/unexploded-ied-found-shenzhen-border-control-point. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
O'Connell, Mary Ellen. "Pager Attack on Hezbollah Was a Sophisticated 'Booby-Trap' Operation − It Was Also Illegal." The Conversation, 19 Sept. 2024, http://theconversation.com/pager-attack-on-hezbollah-was-a-sophisticated-booby-trap-operation-it-was-also-illegal-239360. " target="blank">http://theconversation.com/pager-attack-on-hezbollah-was-a-sophisticated-booby-trap-operation-it-was-also-illegal-239360.">http://theconversation.com/pager-attack-on-hezbollah-was-a-sophisticated-booby-trap-operation-it-was-also-illegal-239360. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
PerryCook, Taija. "4 Articles to Make Sense of the Israel-Hamas War." Snopes, 27 Dec. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//collections/palestine-israel-explainers/. " target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//collections/palestine-israel-explainers/.">https://www.snopes.com//collections/palestine-israel-explainers/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Rizkallah, Jawad. "Another Wave of Blasts Hits Lebanon, as Hezbollah Reels from Pager Explosions." NPR, 18 Sept. 2024. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2024/09/18/g-s1-23577/pagers-devices-explode-hezbollah-lebanon-israel. " target="blank">https://www.npr.org/2024/09/18/g-s1-23577/pagers-devices-explode-hezbollah-lebanon-israel.">https://www.npr.org/2024/09/18/g-s1-23577/pagers-devices-explode-hezbollah-lebanon-israel. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Shamim, Sarah. "How Did Hezbollah Get the Pagers That Exploded in Lebanon?" Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/18/how-did-hezbollah-get-the-pagers-that-exploded-in-lebanon . Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
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