Israeli Propagandists Exploit Whale Shark’s Presence in Gaza to Demonize Residents

Pro-Israeli users circulated a video claiming to show Gaza residents celebrating after catching a giant fish off the Gaza coast, amid Israel’s ongoing restrictions on food entry. Israeli trolls exploited the footage to accuse Gazans of “barbarism” for catching the fish, while deflecting attention from Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and the imposed famine from two years of war.

Israeli Accounts Accuse Palestinians of Barbarism After Catching a Whale Shark

Misbar’s team recently uncovered a coordinated campaign led by Israeli propaganda accounts and amplified by official Israeli accounts. These accounts circulated a video showing Palestinian fishermen celebrating after catching a giant fish off the Gaza coast, identified by reports as a whale shark.

Israeli users used the footage to spread hate speech against Gaza residents, accusing them of being “barbaric,” “destructive,” and even invoking Islamophobic rhetoric for catching the fish.

An X user posted two videos, one allegedly showing the whale shark swimming in Israeli waters, and another depicting Gazans after catching it. The post’s caption read, “A week ago a rare whale shark was spotted on the shores of Israel. Today, the whale shark reached Gaza’s shores. It only took the Gazans 20 minutes to pull it out of the water and kill it. What a destructive society.”

Misbar’s team found the footage that the X user refers to dates back to June 2025.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry account on X, which Misbar has monitored since the start of the Gaza war and found to have repeatedly shared misinformation, also posted the same footage, calling it proof of Gaza’s “cruelty” and criticizing Greta Thunberg.

Pro-Israeli propagandist Yoseph Haddad shared the same claim along with the footage, while another user went further, posting Islamophobic remarks that described Islam as “barbaric” and suggesting the religion condones such acts.

Several Israeli and international media outlets also covered the incident in a similar manner. Ynet and The Sun reported on the video, with The Sun describing it as a “shock moment,” while Ynet claimed that the whale shark was caught and killed in Gaza.

Reports Say Whale Shark Was Either Hunted or Washed Ashore on Gaza Beach

Other Israeli media outlets, including The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post, stated that they could not confirm whether local fishermen caught the whale shark seen on Gaza’s shore or whether it simply washed ashore.

Both outlets cited the environmental conservation group Sharks in Israel, which stated that the whale shark, nicknamed “Ofek,” died off the coast of Gaza on Friday. The organization noted, “We do not currently know from the report whether it was fished and caught alive or arrived injured or dead.”

According to the group, “Ofek” was seen surrounded by crowds of Palestinians in Khan Yunis, being pulled along the beach with ropes. Local reports in Gaza described the whale shark, known as the world’s largest fish, as measuring around ten meters in length.

Before its death, “Ofek,” an endangered species, was reportedly sighted off the coasts of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Netanya, Bat Yam, Tel Aviv, and other areas along Israel’s Mediterranean shore.

Israelis Value Animal Lives More Than Palestinian Lives

For Israeli trolls, the life of the whale shark appeared to matter more than the lives of over 68,000 Palestinians killed by Israel during two years of genocide in Gaza. Driven by desperation and starvation, many Gazans expressed joy over catching the massive fish for survival.

Misbar’s team discovered that the same propagandists have repeatedly spread hate speech and false claims targeting Gaza residents, including journalists, many of whom have been killed or wounded as a result of such incitement campaigns.

These Israeli accounts ignored the reality that Israel’s siege has starved more than 460 Palestinians to death, including 154 children, by blocking food supplies to Gaza for over 600 days. Although Israel recently eased some restrictions under an unstable ceasefire, it continues to prohibit the entry of meat, fish, and poultry, according to eyewitnesses in the Strip.

On August 22, the United Nations–backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed that Gaza entered a state of famine, the first officially recognised famine in the Middle East, caused by Israel’s continued obstruction of humanitarian aid.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israeli occupation forces and GHF security contractors have killed more than 2,600 people and wounded over 19,000 others while they were trying to collect food from what Palestinians describe as GHF’s “death traps.”

Israeli War on Gaza Kills Most of the Strip's Animals

In August 2025, Euro-Med Monitor reported that Israel destroyed nearly all of Gaza’s animal wealth, about 97%, through systematic bombing and starvation.

The Monitor said this destruction, alongside the bulldozing of thousands of acres of farmland, reflects a deliberate policy aimed at starving the population, eliminating food sources, and inflicting collective suffering.

After almost two years of war, more than 93% of Gaza’s poultry farms have been wiped out, with the few remaining forced to shut down entirely. Euro-Med Monitor’s field team documented the deaths of tens of thousands of birds due to airstrikes, hunger, and lack of water. The same pattern devastated livestock, with over 97% of the enclave’s 15,000 cows, 60,000 sheep, and 10,000 goats killed by bombings or starvation.

By mid-2024, only about 6% of Gaza’s working animals, including horses and mules, were still alive.

Verified footage and field reports also show Israeli troops shooting and killing livestock, including horses and sheep.

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