Is this image of flooded tents in Gaza real?

As winter settles in Gaza, flooding devastated thousands of tents and makeshift shelters. Published Nov. 11, 2026 Claim: An image authentically depicts flooding in Gaza in November that has damaged thousands of shelters. Rating: ContextThis image was AI-generated — OpenAI detected its own watermark on the image. However, the devastating flooding in Gaza is real, and there are dozens of authentic images illustrating the extent of the damage. As winter flooding hit Gaza — where roughly 65% of the population, about 1.4 million people, lives in tents or makeshift shelters, according to the United Nations — a striking image circulated online in early November purportedly showing the magnitude of the flooding's damage. Apparently shot at night, the image showed blue and white tents flooded by murky water, several buildings standing in the background as light from windows and streetlights appeared to reflect across the surface of the water. Posts of the image shared across social media collectively gained millions of views and reactions, with hundreds of commenters appearing to believe the image was authentic. Prominent accounts, including British Parliament member Jeremy Corbyn, posted the image before deleting it (archived). Although intense rainfall in Gaza early November has caused flooding and put thousands of people in danger as Israel continues to blockade crucial supplies — including 150,000 tents waiting just outside, according to the U.N. — this image was a fake. The image contained multiple signs of being generated with artificial intelligrnace, including an OpenAI watermark that OpenAI's verification software identified. It's unclear precisely where it originated. (OpenAI) OpenAI reconstructs its images in a systemic grid pattern (autoregressive approach). Upon zooming in more closely, the pixel pattern of the image showed signs of a star-like grid, which digital forensics expert Hany Farid has described as a tell-tale sign of AI-generation. (X user @ahmed_nashwan1 and Heny Farid, Snopes illustration) The image displays other signs of AI generation, including unnatural light interruption, a mottled sky texture, and harsh lines between blurred pixels and textured pixels. (X user ahmed_nashwan1, Snopes illustration) Despite the fact that this image was AI-generated, there are hundreds of publicly available images showing the extent of the flooding destruction in Gaza. Sources Children among the Dead as Heavy Rains Flood Tents and Shelters in Gaza | UN News. 9 Nov. 2026, https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/11/1168766.'Heavy Rain Floods Displaced Families' Tents in Gaza – in Pictures'. The Guardian, 8 Nov. 2026. World News. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2026/nov/08/heavy-rain-floods-displaced-families-tents-gaza-in-pictures.Israel Puts Thousands at Risk Blocking Crucial Supplies for Healthcare in Gaza | MSF. https://www.msf.org/israel-puts-thousands-risk-blocking-crucial-supplies-healthcare-gaza. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.Moench, Mallory. Board of Peace Says Israel's Aid Response after Gaza Floods 'Insufficent'. 10 Nov. 2026. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw4g1g4ll5m1o.Tizkova, Tereza. 'How the New OpenAI Image Generation Works'. Substack newsletter. Tereza Tizkova, 30 Mar. 2025, https://terezatizkova.substack.com/p/how-the-new-openai-image-generation.Today's Top News: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Mali, Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Haiti | OCHA. https://www.unocha.org/news/todays-top-news-occupied-palestinian-territory-mali-somalia-democratic-republic-congo-sudan. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.'Verify OpenAI-Generated Content'. OpenAI, https://openai.com/research/verify/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5_PrTvNypY. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026. By Taija PerryCook Taija PerryCook is a Seattle-based journalist who previously worked for the PNW news site Crosscut and the Jordan Times in Amman. Article Tags