Fact Check: Was Noa Argamani burned alive? Viral claim about Hamas hostage debunked 

A viral claim circulating online that suggested Israeli university student Noa Argamani was burned alive after she was taken hostage by Hamas has raised concerns among netizens. The 25-year-old was reportedly abducted while she was at a rave party organized near the Gaza Strip that was attacked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in a planned sneak attack against Israel.

Videos shared on multiple social media platforms documented the carnage as militants opened fire killing partygoers and abducting attendees who had gathered at a music festival on October 6.

Noa Argamani and her boyfriend were among the attendees at the rave held in the desert in southern Israel to coincide with the Jewish festival of Sukkot. In the wake of the attack, a video of Noa yelling for help, her arm outstretched, as she was taken away on a motorcycle, was one of many alarming clips flooding the internet.

Among the deluge of videos to hit social media platforms, a string of viral rumors, misleading images and clips also emerged, leading to the spread of disinformation online. One of the such claims circulating on Reddit suggested that Argamani was burned alive by Hamas after she was abducted.

Noa Argamani burned alive? byu/Jerseyperson111 inIsrealPalestineWar_23

However, this claim is false. Noa Argamani is alive and well, as evinced in a recent video posted by user Israel MyChannel on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In the video, the woman seated on a couch was seen wearing the same clothes as Noa while she was abducted. The social media account Israel MyChannel claimed the video was uploaded by Hamas.

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Noa Argamani was not burned alive after she was taken hostage by Hamas

The spurious claim that Noa Argamani was burned alive after she was taken hostage by Hamas sparked concerns among social media users. Shortly after the rumor surfaced on the Reddit account, the page was flooded with comments suggesting the unsubstantiated claim was possibly true.

However, the claim Noa Argamani was burned alive is false and seemingly stemmed from a disturbing old video often shared online over the years. The video showed a young woman being burned alive in Guatemala in May 2015.

The contents of the horrifying video were reported by Aljazeera, which said that the 16-year-old woman was killed over her alleged involvement in the death of a taxi driver in Guatemala.

Trigger Warning: The following content contains graphic and violent images that some readers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

Noa Argamani's burned alive claim was part of fake social media accounts spreading false information about the Israel-Hamas conflict in X and TikTok. According to a fact checker in BBC Shayan Sardarizadeh cited by the Guardian, there had been a “deluge” of false posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, since the Hamas' surprise attack on Israel and the subsequent escalation into war.

“I’ve been fact-checking on Twitter for years, and there’s always plenty of misinformation during major events. But the deluge of false posts in the last two days, many boosted via Twitter Blue [now X Premium], is something else. Neither fact checkers nor Community Notes can keep up with this.”

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According to rescue agency Zaka, more than 260 bodies have reportedly been recovered from the festival arena after Hamas attacked Israel. According to the BBC, citing the local media reports, at least 700 Israelis have been killed since the attack began on Saturday, and numbers keep on climbing.

Shortly after Palestinians attacked Israel, which prides itself on its efficient military and security services, they launched air strikes on Gaza, killing at least 413 Palestinians.

The total number of casualties in the Israel-Palestine war is estimated to be over 1200. The number is expected to increase as the war rages on.