What was claimed
A video showing explosions has been shared online with claims about recent US military strikes in the Port of Caracas and on Margarita Island in Venezuela.
Our verdict
This is misleading. This footage dates back to October 2024 and was filmed in Israel, not Venezuela.
A video has been shared online with captions about the recent US military strikes in Venezuela.
But this video is from 2024, and was filmed in Israel, not Venezuela.
The video has been shared hundreds of times across X, Facebook and Instagram with the captions: “URGENT – VENEZUELA | CARACAS PORT & MARGARITA ISLAND. Reports circulating online claim that U.S. military strikes targeted specific military facilities and infrastructure in the Port of Caracas and on Margarita Island in the Caribbean” and “Media reports indicate a strike on the port of Caracas and Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea, where a large number of military installations are located.”
However using reverse image search tools Full Fact has traced the clip back to 1 October 2024, when various news outlets reported it showed Iranian missiles striking Israel's Nevatim Airbase.
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While we’ve not independently verified the original clip, its location was confirmed at the time by Jake Godin, a researcher at the investigative organisation Bellingcat.
It’s therefore not related to the US strikes on Venezuela on 3 January, which saw the US seize Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Separate verified footage from the capital Caracas showed the recent explosions in the city.
We often see videos and images shared online in the wake of major global events that don’t show the things they claim to. For tips on how to verify content before you share it, read our guide.
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 missing context because this footage dates back to October 2024 and was not filmed in Venezuela
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