What was claimed
A video shows an Iranian missile that landed in Tel Aviv and failed to explode, but subsequently detonated as firefighters approached it.
Our verdict
False. The footage is actually from June 2016, and shows explosions during a warehouse fire in Maywood, California, which occurred after firefighters sprayed water on burning magnesium.
Old footage of a warehouse fire in the United States is being shared with false claims it shows a delayed missile explosion in Israel.
Posts on X, Facebook and Instagram claim the video shows an Iranian missile that landed in Tel Aviv and “failed to explode” but subsequently detonated when firefighters tried to approach.
This isn’t true. Full Fact traced the footage to a YouTube video uploaded in June 2016 with the title: “Maywood, CA Magnesium Explosion.”
Some of the posts have cropped the video to only show a narrow section of the footage, while others have mirrored it horizontally, a technique we sometimes see used to make it harder to track down the original clip.
The video’s description says: “4th Alarm fire at a recycling plant on the Vernon, Maywood, CA border line results in several magnesium explosions. This is the largest explosion sending me and firefighters running for cover. Over 100 LACOFD, Vernon, and Compton firefighters responded.”
The original June 2016 incident was widely reported in the local press. Fire officials explained that when firefighters began to douse the flames with water, a chemical reaction occurred with burning magnesium inside the building, leading to a series of explosions.
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There have been real reports of Tel Aviv being struck by missiles fired from Iran during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, but none of the legitimate reporting we found described a delayed missile explosion like the one outlined in these posts.
We have seen old and unrelated footage being shared online with misleading captions as the war in the Middle East continues. Before sharing content which you see on social media, it’s important to consider whether it comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source—our toolkit contains guides to help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because this is old footage from the US, not from a recent strike on Tel Aviv.
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Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.