Posts from multiple users on social media platforms X and TikTok on Sunday shared an image claiming to show the Israeli city of Haifa devastated by Iranian missile strikes. However, the viral image is an old photo of an Israeli strike in Lebanon from 2024.
As Israel and Iran entered the third day of intense missile exchanges, reports emerged of at least four injuries in Haifa following Iranian strikes on June 15, according to Al Jazeera. The escalation began on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iranian commanders, scientists, and nuclear facilities, claiming it aimed to halt Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons development — an accusation Iran denies, asserting its programme is for civilian use.
On Sunday, an X user shared an image showing a large explosion at night, with multiple fireballs and plumes of smoke rising into the sky. The blast appears to be occurring in a densely populated urban area, given the surrounding city lights and visible high-rise buildings in the foreground.
The caption of the post read: “Haifa now. Chaos and destruction.”
The post received 185,400 views.
The same image was also circulated by many users on X, as seen here, here, here, here, here, and here, collectively garnering over 277,000 views.
The image was found on TikTok as well with a caption; “Breaking – The port of Haifa has been completely destroyed.”
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel.
A reverse image search of the viral image of the massive explosion yielded a news report from The Washington Post published on October 3, 2024, titled: “Israel unleashes major strikes near Beirut as Lebanon campaign escalates.”
The image was sourced to wire news agency Reuters. Searching for the image on the agency’s website yielded the following caption: “Smoke and flames rise over Beirut’s southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, Oct 3, 2024.”
According to the WP report, Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon escalated on October 3, 2024, with strikes hitting soldiers and medics and pummeling the southern suburbs of Beirut, as Lebanese authorities said 1.2 million people had been displaced by the fighting and Israeli forces ordered more villages to evacuate in the south.
The same incident was covered by Al Jazeera on Oct 4, 2024, including a 44-second video.
As per the report, Israel launched its largest airstrike to date on the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, targeting densely populated areas and causing significant destruction and panic among residents.
The attack, which included 11 consecutive airstrikes, resulted in massive explosions that set off car alarms and caused buildings to shake, with smoke billowing over the city. The strikes targeted areas near Beirut’s international airport and extended for the first time to the central Bashoura district, close to Lebanon’s parliament.
Therefore, the fact-check determined that the claim that an image shows the Israeli city of Haifa destroyed by Iranian missile strikes is false. The viral image actually dates back to an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon Oct 3, 2024.
Multiple claims
At the same time, iVerify Pakistan observed multiple other claims regarding the Iran-Israel conflict. Here are more claims that were debunked by the platform.
– Video showing Iranian missiles in Israel — MISLEADING
On June 13, an X user, who appeared to be a PML-N supporter based on his bio, shared a video clip showing missiles in the sky hitting a city. The caption read: “Iran reached Tel Aviv. Now face it.”
The post gained over 5.5 million views.
The same video was shared by Iran’s state news agency IRNA, with the caption: “Iranian missiles keep coming.”
The post received over 46,000 views.
Another X user also posted the same clip, which gained more than 5,000 views.
The same video was also shared on Instagram by various users here, here and here, collectively receiving over 25,000 likes.
A reverse image search led to an Instagram post dated October 9, 2024. The post featured the same viral video, with the caption simply reading “Tel Aviv.”
The same video, showing a missile striking a city, was also shared by another user on X on October 8, 2024. The caption stated: “Iran’s missile attack was so outrageous that even the Japanese and Koreans are making videos about it, and it has received millions of views.”
The previous videos were shared in the context of the October 2024 outbreak of violence between Iran and Israel.
Thus, the viral clip is unrelated to the current bout of conflict between Iran and Israel and has been shared as far back as to the October 2024 violence between the two countries.
– Video of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying Pakistan provided Iran with intelligence — MISLEADING
On Saturday, a video was shared by an X user, featuring Defence Minister Khawaja Asif allegedly saying that Pakistan provided Iran with intelligence and cover following Israeli attacks.
The statement was purportedly made during a speech in the National Assembly, and the clip featured a Geo News logo.
The post was viewed by over 50,000 people.
The same clip with the same claim was shared here, here, here, here and here.
A keyword search of “Khawaja Asif” and “National Assembly speech” yielded a 44-minute video of Asif’s speech published by the official YouTube channel for the National Assembly on Saturday.
In the speech, the minister addressed unprovoked Israeli aggression towards Iran, pledging unwavering support for the latter.
At the 5:46-minute mark, he condemned Israel’s strikes on military sites and private residences on June 13, killing Iran’s nuclear scientists as well as civilians.
He went on to say that Israel had foreign support in providing cover and intelligence for its attacks. He did not mention providing Iran with cover and intelligence anytime during the speech.
“Israel is not alone in all this. They were provided intelligence, cover and everything against Iran.”
Notably, the viral clip had omitted the first part of his above comment and he was actually talking about international support for Israel against Iran instead of Pakistan helping Iran.
– Viral video of building collapsing in Tel Aviv — FALSE
On Saturday, an X user shared a 16-second clip showing a building collapse beside a high-rise tower in an urban area with the location tagged as Tel Aviv.
The caption of the post read: “What a soothing scene.”
The post received 348,200 views and 2,700 reshares.
The same clip was circulated by many users on X, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, collectively garnering over 2.2m views.
The clip was shared on TikTok as well with a caption; “Another view of Tel Aviv, today June 14, Long live Iran”, gaining 1.5m views.
Analysing the video using tools to detect manipulation showed that Attestiv assigned it a suspicion rating of 21 per cent and Hive Moderation indicated a 37.4pc likelihood that the video was AI-generated.
A reverse image search yielded a TikTok account named “3amelyon” which shares AI-generated content. The viral clip was uploaded on the TikTok account on May 26, gathering 3.5m views.
The same clip was uploaded on the instagram account of ‘3amelyon’ on the same date, gathering over 28,000 likes.
The video was thus AI-generated and unrelated to the current conflict.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
