An old video from April 2018 showing heavy gunfire near the Saudi royal palace in Riyadh is being shared on social media with the false claim that it shows shooting inside the palace amid the ongoing United States–Israel war on Iran.
BOOM found that the video is from a 2018 incident in which a toy drone was shot down near the Saudi royal palace.
The claim is being shared amid reports that two ballistic missiles targeted Riyadh on March 23, with the Saudi Ministry of Defense saying one was intercepted while the other fell in an uninhabited area.
The Claim:
The video is being shared on X with captions claiming it shows gunfire inside the Saudi royal palace in Riyadh.
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What We Found:
1) Video from 2018
A keyword search revealed that the viral video dates back to April 2018. We found posts on X from April 21–22, 2018, sharing the same clip with captions such as "INCREDIBLY heavy gunfire now in #Riyadh."
2) News reports on the incident
News reports from April 2018, including from Al Jazeera and CNN Middle East, covered the incident and featured the same footage.
According to an Al Jazeera report from April 21, 2018, Saudi security forces shot down a toy drone near the royal palace in Riyadh after it was detected at a security checkpoint.
The official spokesman for Riyadh police stated that security forces had "dealt with" an unauthorised small drone-type toy after spotting it in the Khuzama neighbourhood, as reported by state-run news agency SPA.