A journalist lied about a nuke being dropped on Syria. But why?

Why would anyone destroy their own credibility?

Motasem A Dalloul has over 117m followers on X. He works for Middle East Monitor, and appears in his profile picture wearing the blue press helmets you wear in a war zone. At a glance, he appears credible. Legitimate. Honest. Real. A great career ahead of him. Which makes what he did all the more astonishing.

To a following greater than the population of Britain, Motasem decided to create a fantastical, dangerous, astonishing lie. A lie so enormous that it fractured trust not just in the Palestinian media, but in journalism itself. The lie was easily disproven: but the fact such an established, successful journalist would make something up so flippantly and without thinking is baffling. This article is about that lie, about Motasem, and about the consequences of one dangerously stupid decision.

On the 28th December 2024, a nuke was dropped: by Motasem A Dalloul on his own reputation. His own career. His own credibility. In a few quick taps of his phone, he typed out an amazing story. A story guaranteed to get him thousands of likes and global attention.