Video does not show rocket attack on airport in Israel

​​A video shared on multiple accounts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) claims to show Hamas firing rockets towards Ben Gurion International Airport, sometimes known as Tel Aviv Airport, in Israel. This is not true.

Some of the accounts sharing this video say that it shows Hamas firing rockets towards “Tel Aviv airport, Israel”. Other users have also claimed it shows Hamas firing at Israel, or have shared it with hashtags relating to Israel. The videos have been shared following conflict between Israel and Hamas over the weekend.

But this video was actually first shared online in February 2020 and allegedly shows a rocket attack in Syria. 

The earliest incidence of the video appearing online that Full Fact has found occurred on 3 February 2020, when two separate YouTube accounts posted the clip and it was posted at least twice on X.

On the same date, it was shared online by Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, which said the video was “footage from local sources” and depicted Turkish armed forces “retaliat[ing] against the Assad regime attack” in Idlib, northwest Syria. 

False claims that this video depicts conflict in Gaza also occurred in 2021.

We often see misleading images and videos on social media in the wake of significant global events and have fact checked clips claiming to show Israeli helicopters being shot down which actually show footage from a video game. For advice on how to verify content before you share it, read our guide. 

Image courtesy of N i c o_