Video of a man collapsing while confronting service members is “Palestinian Theater.”

Amid the war between Hamas and Israel, social media users have spread numerous claims that Palestinians are faking injuries and deaths.

A recent Instagram post continued this trend with a video that shows a man clutching his chest and falling to the ground after confronting service members. 

“Gaza: Where actors always have roles. The Palestinian Theater,” reads the text in a Dec. 13 Instagram reel with a grammatical error. “Grab you popcorn and enjoy the show!”

(Screenshot from Instagram)

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But it’s not “theater.” A reverse-image search of the video showed its real context: The man collapsed during a confrontation with Israeli service members on Oct. 11, 2015, in Hebron in the West Bank.

The older Palestinian man in the video, named Ziyad Abu Haleel according to news reports, was shouting at the service members in Arabic, saying, “How do you fire your weapon on kids?” 

Violence escalated between Israeli troops and Palestinians beginning in October 2015, resulting in the deaths of 17 Israeli civilians in the West Bank and Israel and 120 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel by Nov. 27, 2015. 

Extended video showed the service members talking back to the man; one service member raised his gun.

After extended yelling at the service members, Abu Haleel clutched his chest and fell to the ground. Journalists came to his aid, and an ambulance soon arrived. 

Abu Haleel was later released from the hospital after suffering minor bruises from his fall.

We rate the claim that this was “Palestinian theater” False.