Fact Check: Viral Photo Alleging Attack On Lebanon’s Beirut Airport Found To Be AI-Generated

New Delhi (Vishvas News). The war between Israel and Lebanon continues, and amidst the tension, a picture is going viral on social media. The photo shows an explosion at an airport with an airplane appearing to fly near the fire of the blast. Users are sharing this picture, claiming it depicts an attack on Lebanon’s Beirut airport.

In its investigation, Vishvas News found that the viral picture is not real, but generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

What is in the viral post?

Sharing the viral post, the Facebook user Khyal Khan wrote, “Current situation at Beirut Airport in Lebanon.”

See the archived version of the post here.

Investigation

We began our investigation by searching the viral picture through Google Lens. We found this photo on the verified X-handle of ‘OSINTdefender’, which confirmed that this image was created using AI.

Additionally, the photo was shared on an Instagram handle named ‘Eye of Lebanon’, which confirmed that the image is AI-generated.

Digital verification expert Henk van Ess posted on X post about the viral picture, pointing out clues that suggest that this image is AI-generated. The post reads, “1. The plane appears to be taking off or landing, which seems unlikely in an area actively being bombed. In conflict zones, airports typically cease operations, especially during air raids. If Beirut were “under Israeli bombs,” as the tweet suggests, flights would likely have been halted for safety. 2.  It is a dramatic image, with bright explosions and the silhouette of a plane. It has  cinematic qualities, which is odd for a news photo. This suggests the image is being used out of context to invoke an emotional response.”

On this basis, we continued our investigation by uploading the viral picture on ‘Sight Engine’, a tool designed to detect AI-generated images. It indicated a 99% probability of this image being AI-generated.

We then checked the image with another tool, Hugging Face, which indicated a 94% probability that the photo was AI-generated.

Additionally, we reached out to AI expert Bhargav Valera, who confirmed that the image is indeed AI-generated.

As per an ANI report on October 21, 2024, there was chaos after the explosion at Beirut International Airport on October 20, 2024. Further details on this matter are available on the BBC website.

Lastly, we scanned the Facebook profile of the user who shared the viral photo. We found that the user has about 5000 followers.