Throughout Shabbat (Sabbath), rumors were spread regarding Israeli hostages who were rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
The IDF has clarified three times, in less than 24 hours, that these rumors are untrue.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, "In recent hours, rumors are spread regarding hostage rescues, which are untrue. Listen to announcements from official sources only, and avoid spreading false rumors which harm the hostages' families and the public."
The Hostages Families Forum requested that the public "refrain from spreading rumors and passing along reports which are not confirmed and which do not come from official sources."
"In recent hours, we have experienced waves of false rumors regarding hostages. Spreading these rumors on the various networks harms the hostages' families, who are waiting for the return of their loved ones for over a year already. The broader public is asked and begged: Please, do not lend a hand to spreading false rumors, this hurts our souls."
The cyber echelon estimates that the rumors are not sourced in false information from abroad but from those in Israel: "We are not currently examining the source of these rumors, which have been making the rounds yesterday and today, but from experience with similar, previous rumors which we examined, especially those running on WhatsApp, the source of most of them is in Israelis who begin spreading misinformation, mostly innocently, due to misanalyses."