Israeli PM announced plans to rebuild areas near Gaza border, not build inside the territory
CLAIM: A video shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing in Hebrew plans to build settlements in the Gaza Strip, with a $5 billion investment from the U.S.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Netanyahu’s comments were translated incorrectly in English captions added to the video. He was referencing a five-year, $5 billion plan approved by the Israeli government on Wednesday to rebuild communities near the Gaza border, in the country’s Western Negev region. Netanyahu does not mention a U.S. investment.
THE FACTS: Social media users are using the miscaptioned video of Netanyahu speaking at the start of an Israeli Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to make erroneous claims about the alleged settlement plans.
The captions read in part: “Today the Cabinet will approve a plan to rebuild the settlements of the Gaza Strip. We will invest a very large sum of 19 billion shekels to make the settlements of the Gaza Strip available to generations.”