How fake news is thickening the fog of war in Israel and Gaza

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A black-clad Hamas fighter raises a hand-held rocket launcher to his shoulders and fires. Seconds later, an Israeli Apache attack helicopter explodes in a ball of flames.

It’s an astonishing clip that shows the fury and intensity of conflict over the Gaza Strip that had been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media.

Except it doesn’t.

Despite the claims made for its authenticity, the scene is actually taken from a video game, Arma 3, which creates simulated battle scenes with…