--- title: "Fact check: The black ribbon was added to the agency's social media avatars and website in October 2023 to commemorate its own personnel killed in the war, a full year before Sinwar was eliminated by Israeli forces in October 2024." description: "The black ribbon was added to the agency's social media avatars and website in October 2023 to commemorate its own personnel killed in the war, a full year before Sinwar was eliminated by Israeli forces in October 2024." url: "https://hasbara.co.il/facts-myths/myth-unrwa-social-media-logo" type: "fact-check" locale: "en" published: "2026-10-30T10:11:00.000Z" updated: "2026-11-03T21:57:08.360Z" categories: ["Media"] --- # Fact check: The black ribbon was added to the agency's social media avatars and website in October 2023 to commemorate its own personnel killed in the war, a full year before Sinwar was eliminated by Israeli forces in October 2024. *The black ribbon was added to the agency's social media avatars and website in October 2023 to commemorate its own personnel killed in the war, a full year before Sinwar was eliminated by Israeli forces in October 2024.* ## Myth The United Nations Relief and Works Agency altered its official logo by adding a black ribbon to mourn the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. ## Fact The black ribbon was added to the agency's social media avatars and website in October 2023 to commemorate its own personnel killed in the war, a full year before Sinwar was eliminated by Israeli forces in October 2024. ## Viral Claims Following the Death of Yahya Sinwar On October 17, 2024, Israeli officials [confirmed that Israel Defense Forces troops had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar](https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-lebanon-hezbollah-news-10-17-2024-d12ca71945313e601cf10876072f4182) during an engagement in Rafah, southern Gaza. Sinwar was the operational mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 massacres, in which Hamas-led terrorists murdered approximately 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted more than 250 hostages. Hours after his death was announced, screenshots displaying the logo of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) draped with a black mourning ribbon went viral across X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Users and commentators shared the screenshots alongside assertions that the relief organization had changed its official branding to publicly grieve the fallen Hamas chief. The posts framed the black ribbon as proof that the agency was mourning the terror leader, prompting widespread outrage and renewed calls on social media to defund the organization. ## Digital Archival Evidence and Origins of the Ribbon [Independent fact-checking investigations](https://fullfact.org/online/unrwa-black-band-logo-october-2023/) and digital web archives conclusively demonstrate that the claim is false. The black mourning band was not added following the death of Sinwar, but had been displayed continuously across the agency's primary digital profiles for an entire year. Contemporaneous records documented by [Deutsche Welle](https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-black-ribbon-on-unrwa-logo-does-not-show-mourning-for-sinwar/a-70532996) and [Lead Stories](https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2024/10/fact-check-unrwa-did-not-put-black-band-across-its-X-profile-to-grieve-sinwars-death.html) reveal that the agency updated its Facebook profile picture to incorporate the black ribbon on October 11, 2023. By October 22, 2023, the agency had implemented the same mourning design on its official X account, stating that it was mourning personnel killed during the initial weeks of the conflict. Web archives from the Wayback Machine and Archive.today confirm that the ribbon remained present on the agency's avatars continuously throughout late 2023 and the entirety of 2024, including archived snapshots from February, July, August, and September 2024. ## Distinguishing Misinformation from Legitimate Scrutiny Inquiries by independent news organizations confirmed that the black ribbon was instituted as an internal symbolic tribute to agency workers killed during military operations in Gaza, rather than any political or militant figure. The branding element underwent no modifications upon the death of Sinwar. While this viral claim is demonstrably unfounded, UNRWA has faced severe and credible scrutiny regarding terrorist infiltration within its operational structure. Israeli intelligence dossiers and independent monitoring organizations have documented numerous instances of agency staff maintaining active membership in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including individuals who took part in the October 7 atrocities. Watchdogs have also repeatedly documented terror tunnels dug beneath agency facilities and the diversion of humanitarian aid. Nevertheless, conflating documented institutional complicity with fabricated social media rumors undermines rigorous oversight and distracts from substantiated, evidence-based accountability. ## Sources - [apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-lebanon-hezbollah-news-10-17-2024-d12ca71945313e601cf10876072f4182) - [fullfact.org](https://fullfact.org/online/unrwa-black-band-logo-october-2023/) - [dw.com](https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-black-ribbon-on-unrwa-logo-does-not-show-mourning-for-sinwar/a-70532996) - [leadstories.com](https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2024/10/fact-check-unrwa-did-not-put-black-band-across-its-X-profile-to-grieve-sinwars-death.html)