Hezbollah video of 'missile arsenal' released in 2019, not 2023
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on November 28, 2023 at 05:08
- 3 min read
- By Clara IP, AFP Hong Kong
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
"After US warships arrived in the Mediterranean, Lebanese Hezbollah released a video showing off its anti-ship missiles," says a November 6 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, written in simplified Chinese.
The post, which shows footage of missiles stored in a warehouse, has more than 117,000 views.
The footage was shared in similar posts by X accounts with thousands of followers.
The United States has deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean as part of efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiralling into a regional conflict.
The international community especially fears an extension of the war to the border between Lebanon and Israel, which has seen escalating exchanges of fire, primarily involving Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, along with Palestinian groups.
Washington rushed military support to Israel and bolstered its forces in the region after the Hamas militant group carried out a shock cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Israel's military responded with a relentless air, land and naval assault on Gaza that the territory's health ministry said has left nearly 15,000 people dead.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, in his first speech since war broke out, told the United States that "your fleet in the Mediterranean does not scare us... we are ready to face the fleet you threaten us with."
"You Americans know well that if there is war in the region, your fleet will be of no use, nor will air combat help. Your interests and your soldiers and your fleet will be the first to pay the price," he added.
2019 video
However, the footage was filmed years before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, and first appeared in news reports in 2019.
A reverse image search on Google found the video in an article published on August 16, 2019 by the Iran Press news agency (archived link).
The report is headlined: "Hezbollah's C-802 anti-ship cruise missiles."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading video (left) and the video in Iran Press' news report (right):
AFP reported on the release of the footage, quoting a Hezbollah naval commander who said the missiles were the same kind used in a 2006 attack on an Israeli warship.
Several screenshots from the footage -- credited to Hezbollah's media office -- were also published on the AFP Forum website as shown below:
Israel has fought several conflicts against Hezbollah, including the 2016 war which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, the majority soldiers.
Since 2006, Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that the Shiite Muslim group maintains an arsenal of several hundred long-range missiles that could be used to target Israel.
Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war has flooded social media. AFP has debunked the most viral posts here.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
