A video showing a fleet of fighter jets in the sky is viral online with the false claim that it shows Israel's counterattack against Hamas. BOOM found that the video is not real and has been created using a combat simulator.
The Hamas-Israel conflict has led to more than 1,600 deaths on both sides, according to Associated Press. A few days ago, on October 7, militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel and the latter retaliated by launching aggressive military operations into Gaza and declaring a complete siege of the supply of essentials such as water, food, fuel, and electricity to the region.
The 39-second video shows the movement of a fleet of military jets and is being shared to claim Israel's retaliation to Hamas' attack. Right-wing blue-tick Indian account @JIX5A shared the video with the caption, "Jaheem is waiting for you Hamas Terrorist! #ISupportIsrael"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
The post is circulating on Facebook with the caption, "Israel is about to rain down hellfire on Gaza."
Click here to view the post.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the claims are false and the video has been created using a simulation.
We examined the viral clip closely and noticed the watermark of a TikTok account, @iceman_fox1 on the video.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a search for this account on TikTok and found a longer version of the viral video shared on their page on October 9. The caption read, "BREAKING: A large Israeli offensive is underway in retaliation for Hamas attacks." It also mentioned that the video was filmed using 'Digital Combat Simulator'
Click here to view.
We also found that the page's account on Instagram and saw that the bio read 'Realistic DCS videos // All original content'. DCS refers to Digital Combat Simulator.
According to its website, Digital Combat Simulator is a "free-to-play digital battlefield game." Developed by Eagle Dynamics and platformed by Microsoft Windows, it helps players create authentic simulations of aircrafts, military tanks, ground vehicles, and ships, among other warfare scenarios.
