Fact Check: Italian football team shows solidarity with Palestine before game? No, image is cropped

Hyderabad: As the Israel-Palestine conflict remains unresolved, an image has been circulating online showing children holding the Palestinian flag and giving high-fives to players on the field, with claims that the Italian football team expressed solidarity with Palestine before their match.

One X user shared the image with the caption. “Italian team Inter Milan show solidarity with Palatine before their game!” (Archive)

Similar claims can be found here and here.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The uncropped version of the image, taken in 2009, shows children with both Israeli and Palestinian flags giving high-fives to players.

A reverse image search led us to the uncropped version of the image, published in a report in 2015 on Rediff, “Can a ‘peace match’ help Israel and Palestine?” The image was credited to Getty Images, described as “Israeli and Palestinian children with their flags.”

We also found the image published by the stock photo agency Getty Images on September 23, 2009. The image shows children holding both Israeli and Palestinian flags.

According to the website, the photo was taken before a Serie A match between FC Inter Milan and SSC Napoli at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan, Italy. It depicts Israeli and Palestinian children from an Inter youth camp giving high-fives to FC Inter Milan players.

About FC Inter Milan and SSC Napoli

FC Inter Milan and SSC Napoli are two professional soccer clubs in Italy that play in Serie A, the country’s top football league.

Therefore, we conclude that an image has been cropped and is being shared with a misleading context. Also, the image does not show the Italian football team expressing solidarity for Palestine.