Old Video of People Sleeping Outdoors in Lisbon Falsely Linked to Gaza

The video dates back to August and shows pilgrims sleeping in open on 37th World Youth Day in Lisbon.

Fact-check: An old video showing people sleeping in the open from Lisbon is going viral to falsely claim that it shows visuals from Gaza.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video showing several people sleeping on the ground in the open in going viral on social media to claim that this is a recent clip from Gaza Strip.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The video dates back to August 2023 and shows pilgrims sleeping in open on 37th World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video and came across a YouTube video uploaded by a user on 6 August 2023.

• It matched the viral video and the title stated that the video shows over 1.5 million people sleeping in the open in Lisbon during 37th World Youth Day (WYD).

What's World Youth Day?: WYD is an event where the youth get to encounter the Pope and it celebrated in every three years in a different country.

• In 2023, WYD was celebrated in Lisbon, Portugal from 1 to 6 August.

Comparing the viral video with more visuals: Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search which led us to several visuals uploaded by stock images website like Alamy and Shutterstock.

• We compared the images to the viral video and found similarities.

We compared the images to the viral video and found similarities.

The image and the video is from Lisbon, Portugal.

The image and the video is from August 2023.

• The description of these stock images stated that it showed pilgrims sleeping at Parque Tejo in Lisbon where Pope Francis arrived to celebrate the 37th World Youth Day, Sunday.

• It also mentioned that these visuals are from 6 August 2023 and that approximately 1.5 million people attended this event in this park.

Conclusion: An old video showing people sleeping in the open from Lisbon is going viral to falsely claim that it shows visuals from Gaza.

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