In the context of Iran attacking Israel with missiles, a video (here, here, and here) of a man allegedly hiding in a tunnel in Israel’s Tel Aviv to evade the missiles has gone viral on social media. We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Video shows a man in Israel’s Tel Aviv hiding in a tunnel to escape from the Iranian missiles.
Fact: This video has no relation to Israel; it was shot in New York, USA. As per news reports, it shows a tunnel that was dug next to a Synagogue in Brooklyn. This illegal digging led to a fight between the police and the supporters of the tunnel in January 2024. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To check the veracity of the claim, we performed a reverse image search on a few of its keyframes which led us to news reports (here, here, and here) about the viral video from January 2024. In other words, the actual incident seen in the viral video predates the recent missile attack of Iran on Israel. Reportedly, this incident occurred in New York and has no relation to Israel or the recent attacks.
A report published on 10 January 2024 by The Telegraph contained the same visuals as the viral video but in reverse. It shows a man crawling out of a tunnel instead of going inside, as seen in the viral video.
As per the news reports (here and here) on this incident, the New York Police Department found a secret 60-foot tunnel underneath the site of the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch, a synagogue located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. This led to clashes between the police and the supporters of the tunnel when the police went there to seal off the tunnel.
Reportedly, the ‘Chabad Lubavitch media director Motti Seligson issued a statement on Tuesday on Twitter saying the damage to the synagogue was caused by “extremist students.” This whole incident eventually led to the arrest of 10 people who clashed with the police and a temporary shutdown of the synagogue.
To sum up, an old unrelated video from New York is being falsely shared as visuals of a man trying to hide in a tunnel in Israel’s Tel Aviv to escape from an Iranian missile attack.
