Publications
Context
A photo of a table allegedly glued to the wall of the basement of the Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza began circulating on social media. In the table, in addition to some words written in Arabic letters, you can see the date October 7, 2023 – the start date of the Hamas attack on Israel – at the header. In each box of the table, you can see, from right to left, the numbers that indicate the days of the month.
As for the Arabic letters: some users say that in each section of the table “the names of Hamas terrorists who are holding hostages” are indicated.
In a video released by an IDF spokesman, the IDF also refers to the schedule as a rotation schedule for Hamas members who will guard the hostages.
It’s literally a calendar with the days of the week written in Arabic?? pic.twitter.com/8V3idEre3k
– Hurt Cobain (@SaeedDiCaprio) November 13, 2023
However, there are those who, with mixed sarcasm, flatly deny this. “It’s literally a calendar with the days of the week written in Arabic,” one user wrote. “You don’t know anything. Hamas members are named based on the days of the week, which are not like our names,” another joked.
the facts
The schedule, in fact, is a kind of calendar. What is written in each box, a Portuguese/Arabic translation specialist confirmed to PÚBLICO, are the days of the week and not the names of Hamas terrorists.
According to the same translator, who preferred to remain anonymous, the title of the table might have been something like “Battle of Taifao Grande” or “Battle of Taifao Maximo”.
Google Lens’ machine translation tool translates the title to “The Flood of the Battle of Al-Aqsa,” which may be inaccurate “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, the English name given to Hamas’ attack against Israel on October 7, which in a free translation would be “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” or “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.” In Portuguese, the attack was referred to as “Operation Storming Al-Aqsa.”
The word Al-Aqsa, according to Google Translate, can mean “maximum”.
The words “hurricane” and “flood” have similar spelling at first glance. The fact that it is a handwritten header may explain the slight differences between the different translations consulted by PÚBLICO.
Judgment
Contrary to what was indicated by a video posted by the Israeli army spokesman and posts by many users on social media, the schedule does not show the names of Hamas terrorists, but rather the days of the week. But in the title, the calendar indicates the date of Hamas’ attack against Israel, and counting starts from October 7.
“Hardcore alcohol maven. Hipster-friendly analyst. Introvert. Devoted social media advocate.”
