FACT CHECK: Video Claims To Show Israeli Air Force Base Damaged By Iranian Attack
A video shared on X claims to show an Israeli Air Force base damaged by Iran’s missile and drone attack.
🇮🇷 IRAN BALLISTIC MISSILES DESTROYED NEVATIN BASE OF IZRAEL
F-35 also destroyed. pic.twitter.com/aY2XNkWXzz
— Shegraf 🇮🇳🇳🇿 (@Sifwatullah19) April 16, 2024
Verdict: False
The video dates back to February 2023. The video is allegedly from Ukraine.
Fact Check:
Israel is weighing how to respond to Iran’s April 13 attack that saw the Jewish state and its allies intercept hundreds of missiles and drones, according to The New York Times.
Social media users are sharing a video of destroyed aircraft and claiming it shows an Israeli Air Force airbase. One user wrote, “IRAN BALLISTIC MISSILES DESTROYED NEVATIN BASE OF IZRAEL…F-35 also destroyed.”
This claim is false. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video is from February 2023 and was posted on X and Telegram at the time. The accounts that shared the videos claim they show destroyed Ukrainian aircraft.
Russians were merely demonstrating what they will do to F16 fighter jets if they’re sent to Ukraine. They destroyed a Ukrainian airfield.💥💥💥 pic.twitter.com/WTn7oOfU4b
— Sentletse 🇷🇺🇿🇦🇵🇸 (@Sentletse) February 16, 2023
“Another video of a destroyed Ukrainian airfield, the scale of destruction is impressive,” the account that shared the video to Telegram wrote in its post. (RELATED: Viral X Image Showing Iranian Trucks Is Not Recent)
Check Your Fact could not verify the claims in the Twitter or Telegram posts. The video does not appear to be used as a source for destroyed Ukrainian aircraft in Oryx’s list of combat air losses in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
While the video is false, Nevatim Air Base was hit by a few Iranian ballistic missiles, causing minor damage, according to the Times of Israel. Military sources told the outlet that despite a report, no C-130 was hit during the attack.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also published video of F-35s returning to the airbase on April 14.
Watch the F-35I Adir fighter jets return to Nevatim Airbase after successfully protecting Israel’s airspace: pic.twitter.com/ap5gPLphPD
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 14, 2024
“Watch the F-35I Adir fighter jets return to Nevatim Airbase after successfully protecting Israel’s airspace,” the IDF tweeted.
The IDF also published video of damage done to the base.
אמש, חיל האוויר יחד עם המדינות השותפות האסטרטגיות, יירטו בהצלחה עשרות איומים אווירים אשר שוגרו מאיראן לעבר שטח ישראל. עשרות ממטוסי חיל האוויר היו פרוסים בשמיים במשימת הגנה על שמי המדינה, ויירטו בהצלחה כלי טיס בלתי מאוישים וטילי שיוט>> pic.twitter.com/bcz0tp01xN
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 14, 2024
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari hinted that Nevatim was Iran’s main target, according to the Times of Israel. He also said that the base continues to function, the outlet reported.
“Air Force planes continue to take off and land from the base, and depart for offense and defense missions, including the Adir planes that are now returning to the base from a defense mission and soon you will see them landing,” Hagari said.