A photo claiming that Bangladeshi photographer and human rights activist Shahidul Alam has reached Gaza has gone viral on social media. The image shows Alam distributing food and water to children in front of a destroyed building, with captions asserting that he has arrived in Gaza.

On August 31, a fleet named “Global Sumud Flotilla” set sail from Barcelona, Spain, with the goal of delivering humanitarian aid by breaking the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Activists, journalists, and human rights workers from several countries joined the mission. As part of this effort, on October 1, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) ship “Conscience” (1, 2, 3) began its voyage toward Gaza carrying international journalists and medical professionals. Shahidul Alam joined this ship as a participant from Bangladesh.

The Rumor Scanner fact-checking team found that Shahidul Alam has not reached Gaza with relief materials. At the time of this report, his ship remains en route. The viral image has been created using artificial intelligence (AI), spreading a false claim.

No reliable source has confirmed that any ship from the flotilla has reached Gaza with aid. Shahidul Alam continues to post regular updates about the journey from his verified Facebook account, but he has not shared any information suggesting that he has arrived in Gaza. If he had reached Gaza and distributed aid, the event and related visuals would have been covered by national and international media. However, no such evidence has been found. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s YouTube channel showed a live stream of the “Conscience” ship still sailing at the time of writing (October 3, 4:01 PM).

Rumor Scanner’s examination of the viral image revealed several AI-related inconsistencies, including finger distortions and irregularities in lighting and shadows.

The image was also tested using the AI content detection tool Hive Moderation, which indicated a 99.9 percent likelihood that the image was generated by AI.

Further investigation traced the likely first post containing the image to a Facebook page named “Nacky Official,” published on October 2, 2025, at 9:14 PM. The page features various photos and videos of a woman wearing a hijab, who identifies herself as “Nacky” in the page introduction and lists her category as a “Reels Creator.” The same hijab-wearing woman appears in the viral image holding a water bottle, suggesting that she used AI technology to generate the photo.

Therefore, the claim that Shahidul Alam has reached Gaza is false; the circulating image was created using AI.

Original News Source: https://rumorscanner.com/fact-check/shahidul-alam-gaza-ai-gen/169754