Fact check: Israeli fighter jet named after Soumya is fake; truth behind viral photo

The tensions between Hamas and Israel continue to escalate with exchange of missiles and airstrikes. Several are reported dead and many injured on both sides of the border - one of them is Soumya Santosh, who was killed by a Hamas airstrike last week. Mourning the loss of the Indian national, Ron Malka, Israel's ambassador to India, expressed grief while making the announcement.

"I just spoke to the family of Ms Soumya Santosh, the victim of the Hamas terrorist strike. I expressed my sorrow for their unfortunate loss and extended my condolences on behalf of the state of Israel. The whole country is mourning her loss and we are here for them," Malka wrote on Twitter.

As the entire nation found the loss of Soumya a personal one, many expressed grief. Santhosh had left behind a 9-year-old. As many posts were shared in support of the Indian national, there was one particular image that went viral.

The claim

In one of the photos that went viral on social media, a fighter jet is shown with "Soumya" painted on its body. The viral posts claim that Israel Defence Forces named its fighter jet after the Indian national to avenge her death by conducting an airstrike on Palestine army chief's house. The post went viral on Facebook and on Twitter, with thousands of people liking and interacting with it and sharing it further.

Fact check

International Business Times reviewed the claim made by several social media users about Israel naming its fighter jet after the Kerala woman who was killed in Hamas airstrike. We ran a reverse image search and found a link to Quora post by Lin Xieyi, which confirmed it is a Chengdu J10, aka J-10C aircraft.

Another link was sourced with the reverse image search of the said photo and it was found without "Soumya" painted on its side. The website claims "J-10C is the latest member of the J-10 family, and its technical level is in the third generation of deeply improved type. It is one of the domestic single-engine fighters with the strongest air combat capability in addition to the J-20 stealth fighter."

No where except for select social media posts had the photo of the J-10C fighter jet with Soumya painted on its side. Moreover, the image dates back last year, after it was uploaded on Chinese social media platform QQ, Alt News found. That too did not have the Kerala woman's name on the side.

Based on these facts, IBTimes has arrived at the conclusion that the viral photo with "Soumya" on side of a fighter jet is morphed and claim about Israel paying tribute to the Kerala woman who died in the Hamas airstrike is false.