Video doesn’t show Israeli army commander saying he handcuffed two couples in a building

On TikTok, a claim that an Israeli army commander admitted to trapping two couples in a building and then wrecking it is going viral.

"Israeli Army Commander admits they handcuffed 2 couples inside a house then used tanks to destroy the building. 15 civilians were burned to death including 8 babies. Openly admitting crimes," read the text on a Dec. 8 TikTok video.

The TikTok shows a clip from Anadolu Agency, a state-run Turkish news agency, with Col. Golan Vach, commander of the Israeli national rescue unit, speaking in English. "Two couples, two men, two women handcuffed. Inside this house were another 15 burned people, among them eight babies. In this corner. They were concentrated them, and they killed them and they burned them," he said.

The exchange continued: 

Vach: "Our tanks attacked." 

Reporter: "Fired on them?" 

Vach: "Yeah, yeah. Because they were blocked in these houses and we need to conquer back the whole settlement, and it couldn’t be happened without the tanks." 

A TikTok user spoke over the video, saying, "They have no shame."

(Screenshot from TikTok)

TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact's partnership with TikTok.) 

In an emailed statement to PolitiFact, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said Vach was explaining the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Holit kibbutz in southwestern Israel. A longer version of the same footage makes it clear that Vach is referring to the scene the Israeli military encountered. 

Anadolu Agency published the longer version of the footage  Dec. 6 on its website, saying it was from Vach’s Oct. 14 statement to international press members. Anadolu also posted on X Dec. 7 the shorter version of the video that’s shared in the TikTok, with a caption that said, "Military official’s remarks raise more questions about role of Israeli tanks in deaths of Israeli civilians."

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The full exchange, from the longer version of the footage, was as follows:

Reporter 1: "Is this place where you found the couple?"

Vach: "Where you stand exactly were lying two couples — two men, two women — handcuffed. Inside this house were another 15 burned people, among them eight babies. In this corner. They were concentrated them, and they killed them and they burned them."

Reporter 1: "Did you see?"

Vach: "I evacuated them."

Reporter 2: "But why is there destruction then, I'm sorry, why is there destruction —"

Vach: "This destruction was a cause of our tanks’ attack."

Reporter 2: "Fired on them?"

Vach: "Yeah, yeah. Because they were blocked in these houses and we need to conquer back the whole settlement and it couldn’t be happened without the tanks."

Reporter 3: "So, how many were here and then how many survived?" 

Vach: "No one survived from this house. From other buildings, we rescued many, but from this house, 19 people died, among them eight children."

Vach was also quoted in an Oct. 15 Global News report, which said that like other sites attacked by Hamas, "bodies were grouped together and set on fire."

Vach said the building was destroyed by Israeli tanks, but he did not say the Israeli military handcuffed the couples in the building before destroying the building, as the claim implies. We rate that False.