Fact Check: Israeli attack on Beirut, Lebanon, FALSELY viral as IDF's retaliation against Iran

India Today Fact Check has found that the video of an explosion in Lebanon's Beirut was falsely linked to the late-night attack by Israel against Iran.

India Today Fact Check

Claim
This video shows Israeli retaliation and attack in Tehran, Iran on October 26.

Fact
This video dates back to October 23 and shows Israeli attacks on Al-Laylaki, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.

In response to a missile attack by Iran on October 1, Israel launched a heavy assault on Tehran's military sites in the early hours of
October 26. While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed significant damage, Iran reported only two soldiers lost and minimal destruction.

Meanwhile, a video showing an explosion between buildings in an urban area has gone viral, with people claiming it captures Israel's recent attack on Iran.

These posts were shared with captions that read, "#BreakingNews. Israel has launched its retaliation on the Islamic Regime. The whole world is watching you, Israel. **** the Islamic Regime of Iran."

Others shared this video on Facebook and captioned it, "Tehran right now. Israel penetrates Iranian airspace easily and is now bombing the IRGC. May it be the end of this rotten regime".

However, the India Today Fact Check found that the video is not from Tehran or even Iran. It is from the suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut.

OUR PROBE

Upon reverse-searching keyframes from the viral video, the results led us to the same clip with a better resolution posted to X by a user on October 24, two days before the Israeli attack against Iran.

The caption of this post mentioned that the video shows an Israeli attack on the suburb of Beirut in Lebanon. The caption stated, "BREAKING: Israel is currently bombing Al-Laylaki region in the suburb Beirut, Lebanon. More than 6 airstrikes reported so far on the suburbs Beirut and Al-Mayadeen’s office was also targeted. Israel continues to act with impunity."

As the logo of Al Jadeed TV was visible in this video, subsequent searches took us to the original and extended version, posted by the Lebanese outlet in the early hours of October 24, 2024. The caption roughly translated to, "Al-Jadeed lens captures the moment of the violent raid on the Al-Laylaki area."

Searches with the help of these clues took us to a France24 report featuring an aerial shot from this location. This report, dated October 23, mentioned that Israel carried out a wave of air strikes on Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold on Wednesday night, destroying a residential complex, as stated by the Lebanese state media.

Therefore, it is safe to conclude that a video of an Israeli attack on Beirut, Lebanon, was falsely portrayed as a fresh attack on Iran by the IDF.