Fact Check: Video shows China, Egypt joint military exercise, not Gaza aid drop
A video of a transport plane escorted by jets during a joint Chinese and Egyptian military exercise in April and early May has been miscaptioned online as footage of China air-dropping aid for Gaza.
Chinese jets, helicopters and transport planes flew over Egypt during the countries' first joint air force exercises, the Chinese military said on May 5.
On social media, a video of planes flying over the Egyptian pyramids, opens new tab shared on May 16 was captioned: 'China had recently promised to provide food aid to 60,000 families, and now it has fulfilled that promise. You can see the cargo plane carrying aid for Gaza, escorted by smaller aircraft for protection. The plane is entering Gaza through Egypt.'
However, Egypt said the flight was a joint military exercise with China in Egypt and had nothing to do with aid to Gaza. A spokesperson for the Gaza government told Reuters no aid had been air-dropped there by China.
The video was initially posted on TikTok, opens new tab on May 11 with no mention of Gaza. The caption, in Chinese, said it showed the Chinese Air Force flying over the Egyptian pyramids. The account did not respond to a request for comment.
On May 6, the official Facebook page of the military spokesman of the Egyptian armed forces posted photos, opens new tab of the joint military exercise and Chinese state-owned broadcaster CCTV uploaded a video, opens new tab to YouTube about the exercise, saying it took place from April 19 to May 4.
A military security source in Egypt told Reuters on May 20 that the video showed a joint military parade and had no connection to Gaza aid.
The spokesperson's office for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters that they were not aware of the video shared online.
'China has cooperated with Egypt, Jordan and other parties to provide multiple batches of humanitarian supplies to Gaza,' and 'will continue to work tirelessly with the international community to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and achieve peace and stability in the Middle East,' the office added.
China's Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the government media office in the Gaza Strip, told Reuters on May 19 that China had not sent any humanitarian aid to Gaza through any relief airlifts and that China was not among the countries that participated in aerial delivery operations for aid.
A spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said in a May 20 email to Reuters that no aid or commercial supplies entered Gaza between March 2 and May 19 through land, sea or air.
Israel cleared nine trucks, opens new tab of goods to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing on May 19 and approved about 100 more emergency aid trucks the next day.
Miscaptioned. The video shows a joint military exercise in Egypt, not the Chinese military air-dropping aid for Gaza.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
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