Haaland did call an Israeli soldier, but not to congratulate him on killing Palestinians
Multiple pro-Palestinian users on social media platform X have been sharing a clip since Monday, claiming it showed Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland calling an Israeli soldier to congratulate him on killing Palestinians. However, Haaland’s call was actually to ask about the soldier’s well-being after his captivity and had nothing to do with Palestinians.
Omer Shem Tov, a 22-year-old Israeli national, spent 505 days in Hamas captivity after he was captured at the Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7, 2023.
How it started
On June 29, a pro-Palestinian user, based on their username and past posts, shared a video on X showing Haaland video calling an Israeli soldier who was held in Gaza.
The caption of the post read: “Norwegian Manchester City player ‘Erling Haaland’ calls an Israeli soldier who was a prisoner in Gaza, to congratulate him on killing 100,000 Palestinians, most of whom are children and women. Before you support or encourage any non-Muslim player, you must know his background and positions on clear humanitarian issues”
The post gained 2.8 million views.
Another pro-Palestinian user, based on their past posts, shared the same video with the same caption on X. The post gained 95,000 views.
The same video was also shared by multiple other users on X, further amplifying the virality, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Methodology
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to high virality and keen public interest in the FIFA World Cup and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The transcription of the clip is provided below:
Haaland: “How are you doing?”
Shem Tov: “I’m good, I’m good, thank you. Thank you so much for calling me. Thank you.”
Haaland: “No problem. We just wanted to say hi. Everything going good with you today?”
Shem Tov: “Amazing, amazing, amazing. Thank God. I really appreciate what you’re doing, and I really appreciate… I really like you, Haaland.”
Haaland: “Thank you so much.”
Shem Tov: “How you play, you’re amazing.”
Haaland: “Thank you.”
Shem Tov: “It’s amazing. I’m so excited to…”
As the transcript shows, Haaland only asked Shem Tov how he was doing. He did not mention Palestinians or congratulate him on killing Palestinian civilians.
A reverse image search yielded the same video shared by Israeli sports outlet Sports 5 on April 16, 2025. According to Sports 5, Haaland called to ask about the safety of hostage survivor Shem Tov.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIg-jiSO8q1/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
A keyword search also yielded several news reports by local Israeli media outlets such as Y Net News, I Sports, and Israel Hayom sharing the same video, mentioning that Haaland had a video call with Shem Tov and asked him how he was doing. None of the outlets reported that Haaland congratulated him for killing Palestinians.
To confirm his military status, keyword searches were conducted, which yielded an interview with Shem Tov shared on March 3, 2026, by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University on YouTube, where he can be heard mentioning that he had just completed his mandatory service in the Israeli Army before he was taken captive. A report by the Israeli newspaper, Jewish Exponent also stated the same.
As per these reports, he did serve in the Israeli Defence Forces just before being taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/live/qd3FQdSumWU?si=6tM-OLS5JFDrSanX
Fact-check status: misleading
The claim that a viral video shows Norwegian player Erling Haaland calling an Israeli soldier who was held in Gaza to congratulate him on killing 100,000 Palestinians is misleading.
Haaland did make a video call to Shem Tov, but only to ask how he was doing. He did not mention Palestine or congratulate him for killing Palestinian civilians.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.