
Fact check: Did Chinese fighter jets deliver aid to Gaza? – DW – 05/20/2025
Following an almost three-month blockade, Israel's government announced the decision to allow limited food aid into Gaza.
In the last few days, the debate around aid deliveries to the enclave has been accompanied by fake and misleading information online.
DW Fact check debunked some of the viral videos.
Is China providing aid from the sky?
Claim: This post on X from May 17, 2025, with over ten thousand views, purports to show China delivering aid by dropping it from the sky in Gaza.
Online videos have claimed China delivered aid by dropping it from the sky in Gaza. Image: X
DW Fact check: False
In the 32-second video, 20 to 30 packages are seen falling from the sky with parachutes attached.
The post is accompanied by a text listing Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, followed by numbers for each place. There is no reference to what these numbers mean.
The figures could refer to recently announced investments and economic exchange frameworks between those countries and the United States.
The post ends by claiming that the video shows China providing aid to Gaza from the sky.
A reverse image search leads us to photographs of airdrops done in Gaza with similar parachutes. Those humanitarian aid deliveries took place at the beginning of March 2024.
During that time, several countries dropped humanitarian aid from the sky in Gaza, as Israel blocked aid from crossing the border by land. This did not include China.
Highly limited aid deliveries
It is difficult to geolocate where the original video was taken because of the widespread destruction in Gaza and rapidly changing landmarks.
Additionally, there is limited access to Google Street View in Gaza.
The account that posted the video on X seems to belong to a woman from Pakistan who joined the platform in 2011.
She doesn't seem to be the person who took the video, as it previously appeared on another account at the beginning of April.
The video and claim circulated at a time when aid deliveries are highly limited as Israel stopped deliveries of humanitarian aid in Gaza on March 2, 2025 .
On April 1st, the video gathered 52.3 million views on TikTok and the claim that China was responsible for the airdrop only came up in the comment section.
In the following days, several posts with the same video appeared. This one shares screenshots repeating the claim of China's involvement, and others combine different videos to make new edits and posts that have also gathered millions of views.
China has not released any official statements that it had airdropped aid into Gaza. The last reported deliveries of aid from the Chinese government date to February 19th this year and were transported in trucks .
Even as limited aid deliveries into Gaza have currently resumed, these only refer to land deliveries .
Did Chinese fighter jets fly over the pyramids on their way to Gaza?
Claim: This post on X , which has been viewed over 270,000 times, allegedly shows Chinese fighter jets and a Chinese cargo plane flying over the Great Pyramid of Giza complex in Egypt on their way to drop aid and supplies to Gaza.
This video does not show a delivery of aid by the Chinese military, but a joint military exercise between China and Egypt. Image: X
DW Fact check: False
The user who posted the clip on X on May 18, who identifies himself as a Kenyan parliamentary aspirant, describes the scenes as "iconic images."
A reverse image search of the clip reveals a large number of posts with similar messages on other platforms, including YouTube , TikTok , Instagram and Threads .
However, the footage is older and does not show aid delivery by the Chinese military.
A reverse image search shows clips suggesting that the images are from April and refer to a military drill unrelated to Gaza. Here's one social media example in Portuguese .
This context is further confirmed by an advanced internet search for military exercises in Egypt in the last few months.
In April, China and Egypt launched their first joint military training, codenamed "Eagles of Civilization 2025," as confirmed here by the Egyptian government and here by the Chinese Ministry of Defence.
Several pictures of the joint exercises were published by news agencies, including those of military jets flying over the pyramids.
Furthermore, Chinese state-owned media outlet CGTN published video material of the exercise under the headline "Jets over pyramids."
Military aircraft flew in formation at the Giza pyramid complex, as China and Egypt conducted their first joint air force exercise. Image: Ryan Woo/REUTERS
Not the only false videos
The two false videos above are not the only ones that have circulated online in recent days.
Others include further videos taken out of context, like this one with 3 million likes on TikTok.
It was taken in October 2024 and included aid from the US and France. The German armed forces also took part in this.
This other one was originally taken in March 2024, as Jordan opened the airlift to drop aid over Gaza.
Both also show military airplanes dropping aid from the sky, but the claim of Chinese involvement is false.
This article is part of a collaboration between Germany's public broadcasting fact-checking teams ARD-Faktenfinder, BR24 #Faktenfuchs and DW Fact check.
Edited by: Rachel Baig

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


DW
14 hours ago
- DW
Amid Gaza's forced scarcities, Palestinians fight to survive – DW – 07/24/2025
Gaza's displaced are facing severe food shortages and limited aid amid the ongoing conflict. Aid deliveries remain limited, leaving many families struggling to access basic necessities in a worsening humanitarian crisis. Every day is filled with anxiety and exhaustion. The constant Israeli bombardment, lack of sleep and search for food are overwhelming for Gaza's displaced population. "The day revolves around thinking about where to find food for my family," said Raed al-Athamna, a displaced Palestinian father in Gaza City, who spoke to DW by phone since foreign journalists are not allowed in Gaza. "There is nothing to eat. There is no bread, as I cannot afford to buy flour. It is too expensive. Today, we had some lentils for the kids and my mom, but tomorrow, I don't know." Al-Athamna, who previously worked as a driver for foreign journalists in Gaza, said he no longer had the words to describe the situation. "There are Israeli airstrikes and shelling all the time. I've seen people fainting in the streets because they haven't eaten. Social media is full of videos of people just collapsing." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video DW last spoke with al-Athamna in May, just after the Israeli government first permitted some aid trucks into Gaza after a nearly three-month blockade. At the time, he thought the situation could not get any worse for Gaza's 2.1 million people. Two months on, al-Athamna described the situation as "really bad. You cannot find a piece of bread, it is a very difficult situation. I am here with my grandkids, they are crying, they keep saying: 'We want a piece of bread.' And if you cannot give them anything, they don't understand. This breaks your heart." International health and aid organizations have repeatedly sounded the alarm over conditions and the lack of vital supplies in Gaza during the 21-month conflict. According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, almost 88% of Gaza is now under evacuation orders or designated as military zones. These areas include most of Gaza's agricultural land, concentrating the displaced population in increasingly limited space and complicating humanitarian access. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that a large proportion of Gaza's population was starving. "I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, it's man-made and that's very clear," he stated. Ross Smith, emergency director at the World Food Program (WFP), said Monday that Gaza's hunger crisis "has reached new and astonishing levels of desperation." He said that "a third of the population are not eating for multiple days in a row, this includes women and children." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video On Thursday, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that so far in July 48 Palestinians had died from malnutrition, with 59 dying of malnutrition since the start of 2025. That number is up from 50 in 2024 and four in 2023 when Israel started its war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli officials have disputed such claims, characterizing them as propaganda. Eyad Amin, a father of three young children who has found shelter in Gaza City, is desperate. "Food is unavailable, and when it is available, it's very expensive," the 43-year-old told DW. Amin, a former stationery shop owner, managed to buy some vegetables but at prices most people cannot afford. "Today I bought two potatoes, two tomatoes, and a few green peppers. These simple items cost me 140 shekels [around €36/$42]," he said. Like most Palestinians in Gaza, Amin has no income but gets assistance from relatives abroad. Those without such support face greater hardship. Sherine Qamar, a mother of two children in northern Gaza City, relies on support from her parents. "We practically live without food, and what we eat is just to survive. We have all lost a lot of weight, I personally lost 15 kilograms [33 pounds] in the last four months," she said. Medical care presents additional challenges. "When my children get sick due to malnutrition or things like the flu, we cannot find any medicine in hospitals or pharmacies, and we have to wait long hours at international organizations and hospitals to obtain painkillers," Qamar told DW. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In March, Israeli authorities closed Gaza's crossing, citing concerns about aid diversion by Hamas. These restrictions were partially lifted in May, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming Israel was acting to prevent a "starvation crisis." Aid distribution shifted from established UN mechanisms to the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which distributes pre-packed food boxes from three locations in Israeli-controlled militarized zones. Currently, an average of 28 aid trucks enter Gaza daily, according to UN figures, which aid organizations have said falls short of population needs. MedGlobal, a US-based NGO operating nutrition centers in Gaza, reported that "cases of acutely malnourished children have nearly tripled" since the beginning of July. "There is no more buffer," John Kahler, MedGlobal co-founder and a pediatrician who worked in Gaza last year, told DW. "When you get a virus suddenly you have diarrhea, that will push you over the edge because you don't have any physical reserve left." "The terrible thing in Gaza," he added, "is that everyone knows that food supplies are just 10 kilometers [6.2 miles] away." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel's military body overseeing crossings, told DW that "950 aid trucks are waiting on the Palestinian side" of entry points. The body claimed that Israel does not restrict humanitarian aid to Gaza, but did acknowledge "significant challenges in collecting trucks on the Gaza side." The UN has repeatedly said the backlog at the crossing was due to multiple difficulties, among them the coordination with the Israeli military. Trucks cannot move without their authorization, to ensure they can travel relatively safely from the crossing to the warehouse and distribution centers without coming under fire from the Israeli military. Due to supply scarcity, looting has increased. On Sunday, a WFP convoy came under fire, resulting in casualties among people waiting for aid. In recent weeks, at least 875 people have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid at one of the distribution points by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation or while waiting for UN trucks carrying supplies, according to the UN. "I only went one time to get aid. But I don't go anymore. If you are hit or injured, no one helps you. You will just die there. There is nothing in the hospitals to help you either," said al-Athamna from Gaza City. He added that the broader situation has become impossible. "You either die being bombed, or you die not having food. They keep talking to politicians about a ceasefire, but nothing happens, and things only get worse. What are we supposed to do?"


Int'l Business Times
21 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Plane Crash In Russia's Far East Kills Nearly 50 People
A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed in a remote area of Russia's far eastern Amur region on Thursday, killing all on board, authorities said. The plane, a Soviet-made twin-propeller Antonov-24, went down in remote, thickly forested terrain, leaving a column of smoke pouring from the crash site and no signs of survivors, according to state media and videos published by investigators. The Angara Airlines flight was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at around 1:00 pm local time (0400 GMT). A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of Tynda's airport. Videos published by Russian investigators showed smoke rising from the crash site and what appeared to be fragments of the plane strewn across the forest floor. A search and rescue team arrived only hours after the crash at the remote, hard-to-reach site and found no evidence of survivors, according to the state news agency TASS. Investigators did not say what caused the crash. Weather conditions at the time of the incident were poor, Angara Airlines CEO Sergei Salamanov told Russia's REN TV channel. "The commander made the decision to carry out the flight," he was quoted as saying. Tynda, home to around 30,000 people, lies in an area of thick taiga forest about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the Chinese border. At least one Chinese national was on the flight, state media in China reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. "I would like to express my deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the families of the victims," Xi said, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The plane dropped from radar while attempting a second approach to land at Tynda, regional prosecutors said. The forest terrain complicated search efforts, a rescuer told the TASS agency. "The main search operations are being conducted from the air," it said. Angara Airlines, a small regional carrier based in the Russian city of Irkutsk, did not immediately release a statement on the crash. Russia's aviation watchdog has not yet given a definitive number of people on board. The Amur region's governor, Vasily Orlov, said the plane was carrying 43 passengers and six crew members. Among the passengers were five children, he said. The TASS agency cited emergency services as saying the plane was carrying 40 passengers and six crew. Aviation authorities have opened an investigation. The plane appeared to have been manufactured almost 50 years ago, during the Soviet era, according to civil aviation database In 2021, the aircraft's airworthiness certificate was extended until 2036, data from the site showed. AFP was not able to immediately verify this information. The Antonov-24 is a popular, Soviet-designed turboprop plane that first entered into service in 1959. Russia has taken steps to switch from Soviet aircraft to modern jets in recent years, but ageing light aircraft are still widely used in far-flung regions, with accidents frequent.


DW
a day ago
- DW
Passenger plane crashes in eastern Russia – DW – 07/24/2025
An Antonov An-24 plane carrying 49 passengers has crashed near Russia's Chinese border. The wreckage has been sighted, but there is so far no sign of survivors. A passenger plane flying from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda in eastern Russia crashed on Thursday, with no sign that any of the 49 people on board survived the disaster, Russian authorities have said. The wreckage of the Angara Airlines Antonov An-24, one of the oldest passenger planes still in operation, has been located about 15 km (9 miles) from Tynda, the Civil Defense Ministry said. Rescue work is reportedly being hampered by difficult terrain, and so far there are no signs that anyone survived the crash.