A video going viral on social media (here, here, and here) allegedly shows thousands of Israelis leaving Tel Aviv for Europe amid rising tensions due to recent attacks. A user captioned the post, “These are thousands of #Israelis fleeing Tel Aviv and heading back to #Europe. Why are they leaving #Israel?” Let’s verify the truth behind the video in this article.
Claim: Video shows Israelis fleeing from Tel Aviv to Europe due to recent attacks from Iran.
Fact: The visuals are from Athens Airport, Greece, where Israelis are stranded after flights to Tel Aviv were canceled due to security concerns. According to reports, the European Aviation Commission recommended avoiding flights to Israel and Lebanese airspace from 28 September 2024 until 31 October due to the security situation. The video shows Israelis stuck in Athens, returning from Greece, not fleeing Tel Aviv. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to a YouTube video uploaded on 01 October 2024, titled “Israelis stuck at Athens airport after flights to Tel Aviv were cancelled due to ‘security’ concerns.”
Taking a clue from this description, a Google keyword search led us to several media reports (here, here, and here) featuring the same visuals. According to these reports, there were flight cancellations after the European Aviation Commission’s recommendation against flying to Israel leading to many Israelis being stranded at Athens Airport. The advisory, issued on 28 September 2024, advises avoiding flights in Israeli and Lebanese airspace until 31 October 2024 due to security concerns. This notice was issued just days before the holiday break in Israel when many are expected to travel internationally.
Upon comparing these videos with the viral video, we found several similarities, such as the presence of the same passengers and identical writing on the wall.
To sum up, visuals from Athens Airport in Greece are shared as Israelis fleeing Tel Aviv amid the conflict in the Middle East
