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Fact check: Did Iran bomb Tel Aviv amid Middle East escalation? Here's the truth behind viral videos
Viral video claiming Iran bombed Israel's capital Tel Aviv after strikes killing Khamenei is fake. The AI-generated clip does not show the Ramat Gan strike.
A video has gone viral on social media, which, according to the users who are sharing it, purportedly depicts the bombing of Israel's capital, Tel Aviv, by Iran.
The video has gone viral amid Iran's widespread retaliation across the Middle East after a US-Israeli airstrike killed the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It has especially picked up traction after shrapnel from an intercepted missiles hit Ramat Gan, a city on the edge of Tel Aviv district.
However, the video, which circulated as a purported attack on Tel Aviv, is fake. Tel Aviv has not been hit by Iranian missiles, as of yet. The video in question has been generated using AI, Ht.com can confirm.
The photo was originally shared by a user named Abdulruhman Ismail on X. The platform, however, added a readers' added context underneath the video, calling it misleading. "This is a AI generated video, with typical AI slops visible such as distorted water solar panels," the context read.
Here's the video:
The video was posted from other X accounts, as well. In some of the posts, it garnered millions of views. For instance, here's one:
What Happened In Ramat Gan Today
CNN reported that shrapnel from an intercepted missile hit a residential area in the city of Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Some damage to a building and cars were sustained in the strike, CNN reported. Seven people suffered minor injuries in the strike.
Photos published by the Associated Press showed the extent of damage sustained. At least three to four private vehicles parked in the residential neighborhood were damaged, the photos showed.
Additionally. on Tuesday, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz and PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to advance and seize more strategic high ground in Lebanon after a wave of attacks.
Separately, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck what it described as counter-revolutionary groups. The IRGC claimed the targets were located in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, according to Tasnim.
