Two Years of Genocide in Gaza: Use of Hasbara and Influencers to Distort Facts and Justify Crimes

Over the past two years of Israel’s ongoing genocide on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation has expanded its aggression beyond the battlefield to another front, one equally dangerous and influential, the media and digital information sphere.

Israel has conducted extensive, coordinated, and well-funded campaigns that go far beyond justifying its crimes or defaming Palestinians. These efforts aim to reshape global awareness, whitewash the image of the occupation, and secure sympathy from international audiences.

This propaganda offensive no longer depends solely on traditional hasbara tactics. Instead, it follows a comprehensive strategy that turns social media influencers into a new weapon in Israel’s disinformation campaign.

Since October 7, Misbar’s team has investigated and debunked numerous misleading narratives and campaigns promoted by Israeli and foreign influencers recruited and mobilized by Israel as “digital soldiers.”

Misbar’s team exposes how the occupation systematically employs social media influencers, with millions of followers, as tools to spread and amplify disinformation campaigns and psychological operations meticulously designed to sway Western public opinion during the aggression.

Misbar’s investigation also reveals that seemingly individual or spontaneous efforts by influencers in fields such as travel, comedy, or lifestyle, who suddenly adopt and promote the Israeli narrative, are, in reality, part of a coordinated propaganda strategy orchestrated and continually reproduced by Israel to reach global audiences vulnerable to the Palestinian perspective.

Influencers and Israeli Propaganda on Social Media

Using their wide reach and personal influence over followers, social media influencers and content creators became key players in shaping public opinion. Within this context, Israeli and pro-Israel international influencers used their accounts to justify Israel’s military escalation in Gaza and to polish the image of the occupation throughout two years of aggression.

Israel has successfully used these influencers to target Western audiences, using social media to shape perceptions and promote its narrative.

They employed a range of manipulative techniques, from distraction tactics and casting doubt on criticism, to dehumanizing Palestinians and spreading misleading photos and videos, all while framing Israel as a “victim defending itself.”

Israel strategically times these coordinated campaigns to coincide with major developments or escalations in Gaza, particularly when global criticism intensifies, in order to deflect backlash and distort the reality of events on the ground.

Israeli Influencers’ Disinformation Behind a Mask of Humor and Mockery

Israeli propaganda during the war on Gaza has extended beyond political or military messaging, often hiding behind comedy and satire.

Israeli influencers increasingly used humor and mockery to downplay the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, turning their platforms into tools that downplay Palestinian suffering.

Since the beginning of the genocide, Misbar’s team documented multiple examples of this trend. Israeli influencer Matanel Laiany, for instance, released a video titled “This Is the Beginning” at the onset of the total blockade, ridiculing Palestinians’ suffering amid power and water shortages. The clip attracted wide engagement and was flooded with hate speech.

Similarly, influencer Noya Cohen posted a satirical video in which she impersonated a Palestinian woman living under bombardment. In the video, she applied makeup while covered in dust, ending with a scene of explosions depicted as part of daily life. The video displays a deliberate attempt to distort reality and belittle the trauma of civilians under attack.

Misbar’s findings show that this type of content spread widely across social media platforms throughout two years of Israeli aggression. The trend inspired other users to produce similar videos mocking Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

Many of these clips circulated under hashtags such as #Pallywood, a term used to falsely claim that footage of Palestinian suffering is “staged” or “fabricated.”

These coordinated campaigns, run by networks of accounts with massive followings, serve a purpose, which is to numb international empathy toward Palestinians, normalize collective punishment, and reinforce the Israeli narrative that justifies the siege and ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

Israel Exploits Female Soldier Influencers to Conceal Military Violence

Israel’s propaganda campaign adopted a strikingly visual and emotional tactic using female soldiers as social media influencers to sanitize and whitewash the image of its occupation army amid global outrage over its atrocities in Gaza. This strategy merges aesthetics with militarism, reframing the image of the soldier from an agent of violence into a symbol of empowerment and beauty.

Israel deliberately selects these so-called “influencer soldiers” for their appearance and online appeal, using them as soft-power tools to humanize the occupation and distract from its war crimes.

A notable example is Natalia Fadeev, who has nearly one million Instagram followers. Fadeev’s account features a mix of photos in military uniform alongside pro-army slogans such as “Make Love, Not War.” 

A previous Misbar’s investigation uncovered that Fadeev and several other female soldiers are affiliated with The Alpha Gun Angels, an Israeli agency founded in 2018 by a former combat soldier. The agency’s mission is to turn female soldiers into marketable social media personalities, promoting what it calls the “Israeli military model.”

Influencers’ Denial of Famine in Gaza

Among the most alarming forms of disinformation during Israel’s war on Gaza has been the use of influencers to deny the famine gripping the Strip. Despite consistent United Nations reports confirming that Gaza’s population faces starvation, many influencers amplified Israeli propaganda, circulating misleading content that portrayed “food abundance” and “normal life” even as hundreds of Palestinians died from hunger and severe malnutrition.

These influencers often relied on selective or outdated footage, such as clips of small markets in limited areas of Gaza or photos of overweight individuals, to undermine reports of starvation. Others, including Israeli and American influencers, participated in media tours organized by the Israeli government, presenting themselves as “independent witnesses” to supposed scenes of plentiful aid and food supplies.

Misbar’s team documented numerous examples of this tactic over the past two years. In one instance, Israeli influencer David Rebel appeared in a video beside piles of aid near border crossings, falsely claiming that reports of famine in Gaza were a “massive hoax orchestrated by Hamas.”

Similarly, Israeli influencer Shiraz Shakran filmed herself at the Kerem Shalom crossing, showing limited aid trucks and declaring she saw “no evidence of famine,” calling the reports “fabrications.” She further accused the United Nations of failing to distribute aid, ignoring the fact that Israel itself was preventing its entry into Gaza.

Influencers Are a Core Tool of “Hasbara”

The mobilization of social media influencers as “digital soldiers” in the war of narratives was a deliberate tactic of Israel’s longstanding propaganda strategy, known as “Hasbara,” throughout the two years of genocide.

Initially relying on diplomats and official spokespeople, Israel recognized that the battle for global public opinion, among younger audiences, was increasingly fought on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. 

In response, it turned to social media influencers and activists as key instruments of its propaganda, using them to promote misleading narratives about Gaza and deflect international criticism.

Israel significantly increased its spending on public diplomacy, allocating an additional $150 million to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nearly twenty times its pre-October 2023 budget, as part of its so-called “war of awareness.”

These funds are channeled into direct contracts with influencers and PR firms. According to Responsible Statecraft, Israel recruited numerous influencers to promote its disinformation on Gaza and defend its military operations, paying up to $7,000 per post on platforms including TikTok and Instagram.

Official Israeli Statements Show the Importance of the Digital War

Israel’s use of social media influencers demonstrates the leadership’s recognition of the digital front as a critical battlefield in its ongoing genocide on Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently described social media platforms and influencers as “strategic weapons” in Israel’s effort to shape global public opinion.

During a meeting with pro-Israel American influencers at the Israeli consulate in New York, Netanyahu said, “We have to fight with weapons that apply to the battlefields in which we’re engaged, and the most important ones are on social media.”

He also pointed to a potential deal for pro-Israel businessmen to acquire U.S. operations of TikTok, calling it “the most significant purchase going on right now.”

Netanyahu emphasized that controlling platforms like TikTok and X would give Israel broad influence over political and public support, particularly in the United States.

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