As UN agencies issue dire warnings of famine in Gaza, images circulating on social media claim to depict Egyptians throwing bottles filled with rice, dry goods, and other food items into the sea in hopes they would reach Palestinian territory. However, while symbolic acts of this nature have been reported in the media, several widely shared images show visual inconsistencies that strongly indicate they were generated using artificial intelligence.

On July 24, 2025, a Facebook post captioned, "The people of Egypt are sending food adrift in bottles on the waves, hoping that, by Allah’s will, the sea delivers it to the people of Gaza," was shared along with three images appearing to show a group of individuals tossing plastic bottles filled with rice and flour into the sea. The images, believed to be authentic, were soon widely shared across Facebook and translated into Italian, French, and Arabic under the same claim.

On July 27, 2025, another Facebook post featuring a similar claim included a new image showing multiple bottles containing food and handwritten notes floating on the water. Its caption read, “Let the divine will of Allah carry this to the starving people of Gaza!” This image, too, was widely circulated and many users accepted it as real. One commenter wrote, “May Allah show mercy. If there’s any connection by river or sea, it could even reach miraculously.”

The images began circulating online around March, after Israel imposed a near-total blockade, leading Palestinians to scramble for essential supplies. At the same time, UN agencies warned that the Gaza Strip was “on the brink of full-scale famine,” while the Hamas-run health ministry reported that the death toll among Palestinians had exceeded 60,000 in the war that has lasted nearly 22 months (archive link). The conflict began in October 2023 when a Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,219 people, most of whom were civilians, according to AFP figures.

Following the collapse of ceasefire talks, Israel implemented a full blockade in March. In late May, it began allowing limited aid into the densely populated area, introducing what it described as “tactical pauses” for deliveries via trucks and air drops.

While the symbolic gesture by Egyptians, driven by distress over the famine in Gaza, was covered in media reports, the viral images in question show anomalies that suggest they were generated using AI (archive links here and here).

Using Hive’s image verification tool, analysis of the bottle-floating photos showed a 99.9% likelihood of being AI-generated. One image displays a distorted thumb in the foreground, while another shows a fully filled bottle floating upright against the laws of physics. Additionally, all individuals in the scene appear to be facing the same direction unnaturally—an indicator of generative image synthesis.

Though there is no infallible method for detecting AI-generated visuals, visible inconsistencies and digital watermarks are useful indicators. Despite significant advancements in generative AI, visual errors still persist.

In another image, also falsely circulated, plastic bottles appear to float in an unnatural manner. The contents of the bottles are visibly larger than the bottle openings—another common feature of AI-generated imagery. AFP has previously debunked other AI-generated images and videos linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Original News Source: https://factcheckbangla.afp.com/doc.afp.com.69Z88ZQ