Fact Check: Viral Video Falsely Claims To Show Hamas Chief Ismail Haniya’s Killing, It Is An Old Clip
In our investigation, we discovered that the viral video is from Damascus, Syria and is four months old. The old video is being circulated with fake claims linking it to the death of Ismail Haniya.
- By Vishvas News
- Updated: August 2, 2024
New Delhi (Visvas News). A video is going viral on social media claiming to show an attack on Hamas chief Ismail Haniya in Tehran, Iran. The video depicts the debris of a building, which users are sharing and linking to the attack.
In its investigation, Vishvas News found that the viral video is from Damascus, Syria, and is four months old. The old video is being falsely linked to the death of Hamas chief.
What is in the viral post?
Sharing the viral post, a Facebook user wrote, “Tehran: Scene of the attack on Ismail Haniya. It was not a strike but a suicide quadcopter attack.”
View the archived version of the post here.
Investigation
We started our investigation by searching the viral video through Google Lens and found this video uploaded in an X post on April 2, 2024. According to the information provided, this video is of an attack in Damascus.
We also found the viral video posted on another X handle on April 2, 2024, claiming that this video is of an attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria.
Continuing our investigation, we found a report from Al-Jazeera dated April 2, 2024, according to which, suspected Israeli warplanes bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria this week and seven of Iran’s military advisers were killed in the attack.
We found an article dated April 14 about this attack on the New York Times website. As per the article, a picture of the same building was seen in the viral video. Here Getty Images is cited as the source of the picture and according to the information given, this is a picture of the bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.
Looking at the report on the New York Times website, it is clear that this is the same building as seen in the viral video and the clip is related to the attack in Damascus and not Tehran.
According to reports, “Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran’s capital Tehran on Wednesday morning.”
In our news search, we found a statement from the ‘Isalami Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’ on Iran’s news agency IRNA according to which, Haniyeh was killed in northern Tehran.
To verify the authenticity of the viral video, we contacted Iran-based fact checker Fateme Karim Khan and shared the viral video with her. She confirmed that the viral video is not from Tehran and that it has no connection with the assassination.
While reviewing the Facebook profile of the user who shared the misleading post, we found that the user is from Pakistan.
Conclusion: In our investigation, we discovered that the viral video is from Damascus, Syria and is four months old. The old video is being circulated with fake claims linking it to the death of Ismail Haniya.