Years-old picture of Israeli strike in Gaza falsely shared as 'Iran explosion'
Israel appeared to have struck the Iranian province of Isfahan on April 19, 2024 as fears of a major regional spillover from the Gaza war soared. A photo shared in social media posts about the blasts, however, does not show the attack. The image, which shows an explosion lighting up the night sky, was taken three years earlier in May 2021, when Israel launched a flurry of strikes on Gaza.
"Israeli media: #Explosions heard in Iran and elsewhere," read a post on Chinese state-run news portal Ifeng's Weibo account on April 19, 2024.
"Explosions were heard in Iran, Syria and Iraq, according to the Jerusalem Post. In the early morning hours of April 19, explosions were heard in Isfahan in central Iran, in the province of Suwayda in southern Syria, Baghdad area and Babylon province in Iraq."
The photo appears to show a mosque's minaret illuminated by an orange fireball in the distance.
The photo circulated widely in similar posts and reports that falsely claimed it showed an explosion in Iran.
Chinese state-owned newspaper Hong Kong Commercial Daily and Malaysia's Chinese-language Nanyang Siang Pau newspaper shared the image.
It also spread on YouTube and social media platform X in various languages, including English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Turkish.
Three explosions were heard on April 19 near a military airbase in Iran's central Isfahan province, Iran's official Fars news agency reported.
Israel had warned it would hit back after Tehran's unprecedented attack on April 13 -- in which the Israeli army said it intercepted the vast majority of more than 300 missiles and drones fired by Iran with the help of the United States and other allies.
Israeli officials made no public comment on what -- according to a senior US congressional source who spoke to AFP -- were retaliatory Israeli strikes against Iran.
Gaza strike in 2021
A reverse image search on Google found the photo in a news report published by The Jerusalem Post newspaper on May 11, 2021 (archived link).
The photo caption says the picture is an "illustrative image of an airstrike" and does not give the location.
It is credited to Abed Rahim Khatib from Israeli photojournalism agency Flash90.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the falsely shared photo (left) and the photo from The Jerusalem Post's story (right):
The photo can be found on Flash90's official website, which said it was taken on May 11, 2021 (archived link).
The caption read: "Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in a site of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in the west of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 11, 2021."
The Israeli army launched airstrikes on suspected Hamas and Islamic Jihad positions in Gaza on May 10, 2021, after Palestinian militant groups launched a flurry of rockets towards Israel.
Violence in the region had spiralled after clashes with Israeli police in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound wounded hundreds of Palestinians.
Similar footage of the air strikes was also captured in an AFP video posted on May 11, 2021.
AFP has debunked a wave of misinformation that has swirled since Iran's attack.
