Video does not show Palestinians ‘celebrating’ after Iran strikes

A video posted on social media has been shared with claims it shows Palestinians “celebrating” Iran’s recent missile and drone strikes on Israel. 

The video appears to show a large crowd chanting outside the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, at a site referred to as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims and Temple Mount or Har ha-Bayit by Jews. 

But this video has actually been shared online since at least 5 April (though this version appears to have been taken down), more than a week before the attack on Israel on the evening of 13 April. 

Arabic fact checking service Misbar also reported that the video features an old recording of the chant “At Your Command, O Al-Aqsa,” which has been used on TikTok since at least October 2023. 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—a branch of its armed forces—said the 13 April attack was “in retaliation” for Israel’s “repeated crimes”, including the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria, on 1 April 2024. 

While Israel has not confirmed it was behind that strike, it is widely accepted that it was. 

In the 13 April attack, most of the Iranian missiles were intercepted by the Israeli military and Jordan, US and the UK. 

We often see misinformation such as miscaptioned videos like this on social media, especially during a major news story.

We have already fact checked several misleading posts about the Iranian attack on Israel, including claims one video shows Israelis “panicking” during the strikes and another shows the attack in progress. 

When sharing something online you should take time to consider if it shows what it claims to. We’ve written guides on how to identify misleading images and videos which can help you to do this. 

We have also been checking many different types of claims about the conflict in the Middle East since October, which you can find on our website here.