Three videos from October 2024, when Iran previously launched missile attacks on Israel, are viral with false claims linking them to the recent escalation between the two countries.
On June 13, Israel launched large-scale strikes against Iran, claiming to have targetted missile factories, nuclear facilities and killing senior Iranian military commanders. In retaliation, Iran responded with a wave of missile attacks, some sucessfully penetrating Israeli air defence systems. At least 224 people have been killed in Iran and 24 in Israel, since the countries resumed hostile attacks.
The Claim: Videos Show Recent Attacks Between Iran And Israel
The videos are viral claiming to show night-time missile launches and strikes impacting residential areas in Iran and Israel.
What We Found:
BOOM found that all the three videos are old and do not show visuals of the recent attacks launched by either Iran or Israel.
On October 1, 2024, Iran launched around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel under ‘Operation True Promise II’, in response to escalating Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
1. Video Of Missiles Launched: A video of multiple missiles launching in a synchronised manner into the night sky is being shared with the claim it shows Iran launching missiles towards Israel.
BOOM found that the video is from October 1, 2024, and was posted by Iranian outlet Khosrowshah News. We found that the same video was posted by the outlet's Instagram handle on October 1, 2024, with the translated caption stating that it shows missiles launched by Iran.
2. Video Of Iranian Missile Hitting Tel Aviv: The official X account of the Israel Defense Forces shared a compilation of Iranian strikes, claiming it showed recent footage of missile attacks by Iran. The same video is being shared on X by several Indian X users.
BOOM found that the first six seconds of the video is from an old video which was posted by several social media users on October 2, 2024, stating it is from Tel Aviv, Israel. BOOM was unable to independently verify the incident.
3. Video of Iranian Missiles Hitting Israel: A video showing multiple projectiles striking residential areas at night is being shared on social media with the false claim that it is from Israel's strikes on Tehran, Iran. The same video is also being shared on Facebook.
BOOM found that the video predates the recent clashes. It was posted by the New York Post on YouTube on October 2, 2024, with a caption stating that the footage showed Iranian strikes on Tel Aviv and other population centers in Israel on October 1. The video was credited to Israeli outlet Kan News. We also found several videos posted by Kan News on October 1, 2024, reporting on the Iranian strike in Israel, including similar visuals of projectiles hitting residential areas.
