Unrelated videos are being shared linking them to the Iran's recent attack on Israel - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 17, 2024
Update (17 April 2024)
Video-3:
Another video (here, here, & here) claiming to be related to Iran’s attack on Israel is being widely shared across social media platforms. In the viral video, we can see massive destruction on the roads and several cars on fire. The claim accompanying this video suggests that it shows the visuals of the destruction that occurred in Israel due to Iran’s recent attack on Israel in April 2024. Let’s verify the authenticity of the video.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a Google reverse image search using the key frames of the viral video. This search led us to a post (archived link) by the news outlet ‘France 24’ on X (Twitter) on 10 October 2023, which featured a video with similar visuals to the viral video. According to the description of this post, the video shows the visuals of the destruction caused by an attack by Hamas in the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon.
🔴🇮🇱 "We hear bombardments all the time," #Israeli civilians in #Ashdod and #Ashkelon told the FRANCE 24 @Observers. #Hamas attacked the southern city of Ashkelon on Tuesday, after the militant group warned residents to leave. pic.twitter.com/4KhWo34Xeu
Saudi Arabian media outlet ‘Al-Hadath’ and ‘Sky News’ also reported on this incident, featuring similar visuals as in the viral video. These reports also mentioned that the visuals depict a Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. From this information, it is evident that the viral video shows the visuals of the devastation that occurred in Israel due to a Hamas attack in October 2023.
Video-4:
A video (here, here, & here) allegedly claiming to depict Yemen’s recent attack on Israel is being widely shared across social media platforms. This video shows a series of rockets being fired into the sky. Let’s verify the authenticity of the video.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a Google reverse image search using the keyframes of the viral video. This search led us to a video (archived link) published in November 2014, claiming to show a GRAD missile attack on the Donbass region by the Ukrainian army.
Furthermore, we found another video (archived link) showing the same visuals of rockets firing into the sky on YouTube dated 03 December 2014, with a title that read, “Powerful night salvo from hail” (translated from Russian to English).
We also found a post (archived link) on X (Twitter) by Conflict News, dated 01 December 2014, featuring a keyframe from the same viral video. The post reads: “Massive Ukrainian Grad barrage against #NAF positions in eastern #Ukraine.” All this information indicates that the viral video has been on the internet since 2014. Hence, we can confirm that this video is not related to the recent attacks on Israel by Iran and Yemen.
Massive Ukrainian Grad barrage against #NAF positions in eastern #Ukraine.https://t.co/DY5G0gRFtZ pic.twitter.com/qAuk9H8fta
Published (15 April 2024)
Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles targeting Israel on 13 April 2024, in response to an alleged Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria’s Damascus on 01 April 2024. Amidst this tension between Iran and Israel, several posts (here, here, here, and here) accompanied by multiple videos claiming to be related to Iran’s attack on Israel are being widely shared across social media platforms. In one of the viral videos, we can see a massive crowd gathered on the streets. The claim accompanying this video suggests that it shows terrified Israelis gathering in Tel Aviv after the country was attacked by Iran. Another video shows a series of rocket launches allegedly depicting Iran’s attack on Israel. In this article, let’s fact-check the claims made in the posts.
Claim: Videos depicting Iran’s recent attack on Israel.
Fact: The viral videos are not related to Iran’s recent attack on Israel. The first viral video depicts the visuals of singer-songwriter Louis Tomlinson’s fans gathered outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during his recent tour in Argentina in the first week of April 2024. The second viral video has been on the internet since 2020, long before Iran’s attack on Israel in April 2024. However, we were unable to independently verify the exact date when these videos were captured. Hence, the claims made in these posts are FALSE.
Video-1:
We found posts of several X users (here, here, and here) who stated that this viral footage shows singer-songwriter Louis Tomlinson’s fans outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the first week of April 2024 (archived link here, here & here).
This video, posted by Jackson Hinkle and others and viewed nearly 5 million times, claims to show "Israelis panicking" as Iran's missiles and drones reach Israel.
in fact, it shows Louis Tomlinson fans near Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina last week; verified by… pic.twitter.com/11tX9bL0sh
Taking a cue from this, we then ran a relevant keyword search to find news reports related to this and came across an article published by the Argentinian news outlet ‘Infobae’ on 06 April 2024. The report mentioned that the ex-member of the band One Direction stayed at the Four Seasons hotel during his tour in Argentina and interacted with fans in the vicinity of the hotel. Additionally, one such video of Tomlinson interacting with fans in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was also posted by the official X(Twitter) account of the musician’s team.
We geolocated the area of the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Upon comparing the visuals shown in the viral video with the geolocation of the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Google Street View, it is evident that the video was captured outside the hotel. However, we were unable to independently verify the exact date when the video was captured.
Video-2:
To authenticate the viral video, we conducted a Google reverse image search using the keyframes from the video. This search led us to a longer version of the viral video (archived link) posted on the YouTube channel named ‘Telegraph – channel’ on 03 February 2020, with the title: “Syria. War in Syria. Surface-to-surface missiles destroy Turkish militias west of Aleppo” (translated from Russian to English).
Another YouTube channel also published a video (archived link) featuring similar visuals on 28 February 2020, under the title: “It was not calm in Syria this night. 02/28/2020.” The change in camera angle in the videos posted on YouTube matches the change in camera angle at the 14th second in the viral video circulating on social media. From this information, it is evident that the video has been on the internet since 2020, long before Iran’s attack on Israel in April 2024. However, we were unable to independently verify the exact date when the video was captured.
To sum up, unrelated videos are being shared linking them to Iran’s recent attack on Israel.