A video (here, here and here) circulating on social media claims to show visuals of an area being bombed, allegedly from a recent attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Let’s investigate further to uncover the truth behind this viral claim.
Claim: The visuals in the viral videos show an attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence.
Fact: According to media reports, the visuals do not depict the attack on Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence by Hezbollah. Instead, they show the Israeli attack on the village of Mhaibib in southern Lebanon, which occurred on 16 October 2024. The Hezbollah attack on Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence took place on 19 October. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
To uncover the truth, we performed a reverse image search and found that the same video had been posted on an X handle on 17 October 2014, with the caption “Massive Hezbollah headquarters in south Lebanon blown up.”
Using keywords from the X posts, we found reports (here and here) about the incident, including one from The New York Times published on 18 October 2024. According to the report, the Israeli military reportedly destroyed most of the village of Mhaibib in southern Lebanon on 16 October, near the Israeli border, with a series of explosions. Videos and satellite images confirmed the destruction of about two dozen buildings. The video circulated online shows Israeli soldiers reacting to the blasts in Hebrew.
Mhaibib is a village in the Marjayoun district of Lebanon, located about 115 kilometres from Beirut. It holds religious and historical significance due to a 2,100-year-old shrine dedicated to Prophet Benjamin.
Apart from news reports, we also found the video uploaded on the YouTube channel “Middle East Eye” on 17 October 2024. The video was captioned “Israel’s army blows up village of Mhaibib in southern Lebanon,” providing a visual account of the incident that aligns with reports of the destruction in southern Lebanon by Israeli military forces.
Following the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the incident mentioned in the claim occurred on 19 October 2024, targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence. According to The Times of Israel, a drone launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon exploded in Caesarea, where Netanyahu’s home is located. Neither he nor his wife was present, and there were no injuries reported. Netanyahu condemned the assassination attempt, pledging retaliation against the attackers and reaffirming his commitment to the ongoing conflict.
To sum up, the video of an Israeli attack on a village in Lebanon has been falsely shared as footage of a Hezbollah attack on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence.
