Fact Check: Viral Gaza Flood Videos From December 2025 Are AI-Generated, Not Real Footage

Verdict: Several viral videos claiming to show tents and displaced people in Gaza flooded in mid-December 2025 were generated or heavily manipulated by artificial intelligence and are not authentic on-the-ground footage.

In mid-December 2025, the U.N. International Organization for Migration warned that hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Gaza could face flooding as Storm Byron made landfall, and the BBC used satellite imagery to identify the most vulnerable areas. Those credible warnings provide context for why authentic flood footage might appear online — but they do not validate every clip shared on social media.

What Was Claimed

A post on X (published December 14, 2025) shared a moving clip purporting to show flooded tents in Gaza with the caption:

Nothing justifies murder and terrorism but scenes like this makes radicalization easier. Justice for #Palestine Save the Children of #Gaza

Why The Footage Is Not Authentic

We reviewed the specific clip originally published on TikTok on December 14, 2025, which the platform had labeled as containing AI-generated content. Visual analysis uncovered multiple, recurring signs of generative-AI artifacts rather than natural, camera-captured recording:

• Anatomical Errors: Strange, incorrectly shaped hands and arms, extra or missing limbs, and joints that do not align with natural human anatomy.
• Face And Texture Distortions: Faces and hair with plastic-like textures or unnatural colors that match clothing, a common sign of AI synthesis.
• Continuity Problems: Scene elements that contradict expected human behavior — for example, a barrier separating flooded and dry zones that makes it unclear why people remain in water rather than moving to higher ground.
• Implausible Details: Apparent electricity or functioning lights in a badly flooded tent and other oddities that reduce the clip's credibility.

Multiple clips posted by the same TikTok account, @yafi_gaza, showed repeated AI-like mistakes (for example, a second wrist appearing to grow from a child’s hand), reinforcing the conclusion that these videos were produced or significantly altered by generative tools rather than filmed on location.

How We Checked

Our assessment combined platform metadata (the video label indicating AI-generated content), frame-by-frame visual inspection for common generative-image artifacts, and cross-referencing with reporting from established organizations (U.N. agencies and the BBC) about the wider context of Storm Byron and flood risk.

How To Verify Similar Footage

• Check for platform labels indicating AI-generated content or synthetic media.
• Reverse-search still frames to find original sources or prior versions of the clip.
• Compare footage with reporting from reputable outlets and official agencies (e.g., BBC, U.N. organizations).
• Look for common AI artifacts: distorted hands, duplicated or missing limbs, plastic textures, abrupt scene cuts, and implausible lighting or behavior.

Bottom line: While Storm Byron created legitimate flood risks in Gaza in mid-December 2025, the specific viral clips reviewed here show multiple visual and contextual inconsistencies and were labeled by the platform as AI-generated. Treat unverified footage with caution and confirm with trusted sources before sharing.