Earlier than a ceasefire halted 12 days of struggle between Iran and Israel in June, a video of a gaggle of individuals in uniform strolling down a road surfaced in posts falsely claiming it reveals Israeli air power members “quitting” to protest the combating. Actually, the footage was first shared on-line in November 2024 and reveals Israeli police on their method to put out bonfires throughout an illustration in Tel Aviv.
“Israel air power had give up and left their fighter planes to save lots of the lifetime of each international locations / Good resolution, troopers!” reads Tagalog-language sticker textual content on a Fb reel shared on June 20.
It reveals a gaggle of women and men in uniform strolling alongside a highway with sirens and horns heard within the background.
A number of different Fb posts peddled the identical declare, whereas one other model claims the video reveals the Iranian military “strolling out” from the struggle.
Screenshot of the false Fb publish taken on July 6, 2025, with the purple X mark added by AFP
Israel launched a bombing marketing campaign towards Iran on June 13 after a decades-long shadow struggle, saying it aimed to forestall it from creating a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has constantly denied — and degrade its ballistic missile arsenal (archived hyperlink).
Following a US-announced ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to forestall Iran from ever rebuilding its nuclear amenities, elevating the prospect of additional battle.
At the least 1,060 individuals had been killed in Iran throughout the battle, in keeping with Iran’s Basis of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (archived hyperlink). The Israeli assaults drew waves of retaliatory drone and missile hearth, killing 28 individuals in Israel, in keeping with authorities.
Nevertheless, the circulating clip was shared months earlier than the struggle and reveals an unrelated occasion.
Tel Aviv protest
Google reverse picture searches of the video’s keyframes led to an X publish by Israeli journalist Bar Peleg on November 6, 2024 (archived right here and right here).
The Hebrew-language description states border law enforcement officials on the Ayalon freeway had been shifting to extinguish bonfires throughout a protest.
On the clip’s five-second mark, a girl in uniform may be seen holding a hearth extinguisher.
Screenshot comparability of the false publish (L) and the equivalent footage uploaded to X in November 2024
Peleg shared one other related clip minutes later, saying the police weren’t making an attempt to clear protesters on the highway (archived hyperlink).
AFP revealed footage from a protest in Tel Aviv towards the sacking of defence minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, which reveals demonstrators had set fires alongside a stretch of the Ayalon freeway within the metropolis (archived hyperlink).
The 2022 Google Maps Avenue View of a portion of the Ayalon freeway reveals the identical skyscraper named “Electra” on the left aspect of the freeway (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot comparability of the false publish (L) and the Google Maps Avenue View of the Ayalon Freeway, with corresponding parts highlighted by AFP
Different equivalent options from the falsely shared video embody the bridge’s V-shaped vertical help and the mid-rise buildings on the background (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot comparability of the false publish (L) and the Google Maps Avenue View of the Ayalon Freeway, with corresponding parts highlighted by AFP
AFP has debunked a number of different clips falsely linked to the Iran-Israel struggle right here.
