Claim: A video shows Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wearing a scarf emblazoned with the Palestinian flag and snogging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after refusing to shake his hand. Another clip shows her slapping him before walking away.
fact: Both videos are generated by AI.
April 30, 2026, Facebook user “Sumaira Malik” Posted (archive) A video of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wearing a scarf emblazoned with the Palestinian flag and refusing to shake Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s hand.
It is captioned as follows:
“ اسرائیلی وزیر اعظم سیتن یاہو سے ہاتھ ملانے سے انکار کر دیا۔
[Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, wearing a Palestinian flag around her neck, refused to shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.]”
Additionally, there is also a Facebook page “Sach Ki Awaaz” Posted (archive) Reel about the alleged incident, including a voiceover and screenshots of the aforementioned viral video.
This clip also contains three lines of text:
- “یو این اسمبلی میں اٹلی کی وزیر اعظم فلسطینی جھنڈا پہن کر داخل! [Italian Prime Minister enters the UN Assembly wearing a Palestinian flag!]”
- ” نیتن یاہو غرور خاک میں مانگنے پر جرجا ملونی نے تھپڑ مار دیا! [Netanyahu’s pride reduced to dust, Giorgia Meloni slapped him for demanding the flag!]”
- “یو این اسمبلی میں کافر کا عبرت ناک انجام ! بڑی چھتر پریڈ ! [A lesson for the infidel in the UN Assembly! A big parade of slaps!]”
Apart from this, Facebook user “Hazrat Khan Yousaf Zai” also Posted (archive) A video from April 29, 2026 shows the Italian prime minister, carrying a Palestinian flag on his shoulders, suddenly standing up and slapping Netanyahu as he approaches.
Meloni’s position on Israel
April 14th, Meloni announced Her right-wing government said it was suspending “the automatic renewal of defense agreements with Israel.” blame The latter forces fired “warning shots at a convoy of Italian UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.”
Then on April 30th in Italy. condemned Israel attempted to seize the Global Sumd convoy (a convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza) in international waters, saying it had been “illegally detained.”
Back in August 2025, Meloni condemned He argued that Israel’s attack on Gaza had gone too far, saying there were “too many innocent victims” in the war that began in October 2023. However, she expressed her country’s support for the “right of self-defense” of Middle Eastern states at the time.
Fact or fiction?
Soch fact check We observed multiple tell-tale signs of content being generated through artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
In the first video, Meloni moves like a robot, with illegible Arabic writing painted on her scarf. Some figures behind the Italian prime minister also appear to be integrated.
In the second clip, there is illegible text on the screen that displays the names of each country represented. When Meloni puts down her phone, her hands become one with the wires on the table, making her movements appear robotic in this video as well. Shortly after she slapped Prime Minister Netanyahu, a woman suddenly appeared from behind.
As she left, Meloni adjusted her scarf, which blended into her hair, and the colors of the Palestinian flag changed as well.
Soch fact check I decided to run the video through various deepfake detectors.
According to hive moderationthere is a 91.5% chance that the video is either generated by AI or contains deepfake content. The second probability is 29.8%.
in Deepfake-O-meterwe tested two videos using eight detectors.
For the first video, the detector showed scores of 99.9%, 99.7%, 99.6%, 99.3%, 73.3%, 67.7%, 62.3%, and 50.4%.
The scores for the second clip were 99.9%, 10.1%, 46.3%, 86.2%, 73.9%, 74.4%, 33.9%, and 30.9%.
Hive moderation and DeepFake-O-Meter results
I also looked for reliable articles from reliable news outlets about the scene being reported, but I couldn’t find any. If Meloni had actually rejected or slapped Netanyahu, the incident would have been widely publicized and criticized as diplomatically inappropriate.
Interestingly, Meloni last dealt with The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will be held on September 24, 2025, not 2026.
the prime minister of italy dealt with AI-generated content targeting her in a post on X (formerly Twitter) this month said, “The fact remains that people are using all kinds of things these days to attack and fabricate falsehoods. But the point is beyond me.
“Deepfakes are dangerous tools because they can trick, manipulate, and harm anyone. I can protect myself, but many others cannot. That’s why one rule should always apply: verify before you believe, believe before you share,” she added.
Soch fact checkTherefore, we can conclude that both videos were generated by AI.
virality
Soch fact check I found a video circulating here, here, here, here, here, hereand here On facebook, here, here, here, hereand here on Instagram and here, hereand here in thread.
This was also shared here With X.
Qasim Suri, former deputy speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, also posted the clip. facebook and Instagram.
Conclusion: Both videos are generated by AI.
Cover photo background image: Emma Fabbri
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