FACT CHECK: X Video Shows Plastic Factory That Caught Fire, Not Israel Retaliating Against Iran
A video shared on X purports to show Israel retaliating against Iran following a recent drone and missile attack.
🚨Breaking News🚨
“Israel retaliates against Iran following a weekend drone and missile attack.”#Iran,#Israel pic.twitter.com/eosb3dpP91
— World War 3 (@Worldwar_3_) April 20, 2024
Verdict: False
The claim is false. The video, which was originally shared on YouTube, shows a fire that occurred at the Royal Plastic Industries Factory in Hebron in March 2024.
Fact Check:
Israel has increased airstrikes on the southern Gazan city of Rafah ahead of a “threatened invasion,” according to Reuters. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are preparing to evacuate civilians from Rafah as a result of the reported invasion, the Jewish Press indicated.
The X video, viewed over 40,000 times, purports to show Israel retaliating against Iran following a recent drone and missile attack. “Breaking News: ‘Israel retaliates against Iran following a weekend drone and missile attack,'” the video’s caption reads. In the video, a building can be seen burning.
The claim is false, however. The video, which was originally shared on YouTube, shows a fire that occurred at the Royal Plastic Industries Factory in Hebron in March 2024. The same scene of the burning building opens the short clip uploaded to the video-sharing platform.
Likewise, Check Your Fact did not find the X video referenced in any recent credible news reports about Israel retaliating against Iran. Actually, the opposite is true. Misbar also reported the video showed the fire at the Royal Plastic Industries Factory in Hebron in March 2024 via an April 24 article.
Additionally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the claim. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not publicly commented on the claim, either.
Israel made a retaliatory strike against Iran on April 18, according to CBS News. Israel struck Iran with a missile following a recent drone and missile attack from the country, the outlet reported. (RELATED: X Video Does Not Show Israeli Tanks Moving Toward Rafah)
Fighting between the two countries escalated after an Israeli airstrike in early April “flattened the Iranian consulate in Damascus,” Al Jazeera indicated. The strike killed seven people, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps top commander Mohammed Reza Zahedi, the outlet reported.
This is not the first time a false claim has circulated online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a video claiming to show a fire in Jordan after an Iranian attack on Israel.