Video from pope's East Timor visit misrepresented as Israelis fleeing Iranian bombardment

Published on June 24, 2025 at 09:42
4 min read
By AFP Indonesia

As Tehran responded to Israel's strikes on its nuclear and military sites with drones and missile barrages, a video was shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed Israeli citizens fleeing from an Iranian bombardment. The footage in fact shows Christian worshippers leaving a mass hosted by the late Pope Francis during his visit to East Timor in September 2024.

"After the Israeli city was bombarded by Iran, Israeli citizens chose to flee the city," reads superimposed Indonesian-language text on a TikTok video shared on June 18, 2025.

"But several neighbouring countries did not allow these Israelis to enter their territory."

The video, showing a huge crowd and vehicles moving in the same direction along a road, surfaced as Iran and Israel exchanged devastating strikes in June. The adversaries had been swapping missile fire since Israel carried out surprise strikes against Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, prompting counterattacks by Tehran (archived link).

US President Donald Trump announced on June 24 that the arch foes had agreed to a staggered ceasefire that would bring about an "official end" to the conflict which has killed hundreds in Iran and 24 in Israel (archived link).

The announcement came just hours after Iran launched strikes against an American military base in Qatar, which Trump described as a "weak" retaliation for US strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

Screenshot of the false TikTok post captured on June 24, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same footage was also shared elsewhere on TikTok in similar posts.

Comments suggest some users believe the clip shows fleeing Israelis.

"Not comparable to what our brothers and sisters have experienced so far," a user wrote.

Another said: "Bravo, Iran."

While foreign governments have evacuated thousands of their nationals caught up in the Iran-Israel conflict, the video circulating online does not show fleeing Israeli citizens (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked false claims that the same footage shows protests in Turkey, Pakistan, India and the Philippines.

Pope's East Timor mass

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to a higher-quality version posted on TikTok on September 11, 2024 (archived link).

Hashtags included in the video's caption indicate the footage was taken during Pope Francis’s visit to East Timor.

According to the Vatican, which cited local authorities, the pope's mass in East Timor on September 10, 2024 was attended by more than 600,000 people -- or nearly half of the country's population (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the clip posted in September 2024 (right)

The higher-quality video from September 2024 shows the flag of East Timor on street lights and a poster of the pontiff.

Screenshot of the TikTok video from September 2024, with the East Timor flag and a poster of the pope highlighted by AFP

The user who shared the footage, Rey Marques, a photographer based in East Timor's capital Dili, previously told AFP that he did not know who filmed the video but said it was shot near the Raikotu General Cemetery.

Buildings visible in the video correspond to Google Street View imagery of the area (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the September 2024 TikTok video (left) and Google Street View imagery (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP

A livestream on the Facebook page of local media outlet TVET Entertainment shows a similar scene of crowds leaving after the mass (archived here).

AFP has debunked other false claims linked to the Iran-Israel conflict here.

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