The protracted, often bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict exploded into a hot war on Oct. 7, 2023, when the militant Palestinian group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel and Israel retaliated by bombarding the Gaza Strip. More than 20,000 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians, were reportedly killed during the first two months of the war alone. The violence is driven by mutual hostilities and territorial ambitions dating back more than a century. The internet has become an unofficial front in that war and is rife with misinformation, which Snopes is dedicated to countering with facts and context. You can help. Read the latest fact checks. Submit questionable claims. Become a Snopes Member to support our work. We welcome your participation and feedback.
On May 29, 2024, an X user posted a video allegedly showing soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo declaring his support for the children of Gaza and telling them: "The world is with you."
In the clip (archived here), the forward for the Saudi Pro League's Al-Nassr Football Club appeared to say:
Hello. This is for children of Gaza. We know that you have been suffering a lot. I am a very famous player, but you are the true heroes. Don't lose your hope. The world is with you. We care about you. I am with you.
"Cristiano Ronaldo Stand with Palestine #AllEyesonRafah," the X user wrote as the caption.
The post had amassed more than 430,000 views at the time of this writing. A similar claim appeared on X on Oct. 14, 2023, while others were also posted in May 2024 on X, Facebook and TikTok.
However, although most of the footage was authentic, part of it was manipulated to include the word "Gaza," which is why we have rated this claim as "Fake."
Snopes found the original clip on Ronaldo's Facebook page. It was posted on Dec. 23, 2016, and was therefore not related to the Israel-Hamas War, which started in October 2023.
Instead, the soccer player delivered a supportive message to Syrian children caught up in the Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011. Every word in the video was exactly the same, except in the original he said "children of Syria," rather than "children of Gaza."
Charity Save the Children wrote a news release about the soccer player's message to Syrian kids in 2016. The article linked to Instagram and X posts that included the clip.
Numerous news outlets also reported on the video in December 2016, such as The Washington Post, ESPN and Anadolu Agency.