Old video of Israeli attack on Syria falsely linked to Iran conflict
- Published on March 4, 2026 at 12:38
- 2 min read
- By Safrin LA BATU, AFP Indonesia
The United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader on February 28, 2026, but a video shared in posts claiming it shows the Islamic republic's retaliatory attacks on the northern Israeli city of Haifa is unrelated to the war. It depicts an Israeli attack on the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus in July 2025.
"The city of Haifa in Israel is bombarded by Iranian missiles," reads the Indonesian-language caption of a video of explosions around a building shared on Facebook on March 1.
"These are the first strikes to hit Israel, a retaliation for Iran's sovereignty after it was first attacked by the United States and Israel."
The video was shared alongside similar claims on Facebook as Iran struck several Gulf countries hosting US bases in retaliation for a joint attack with Israel on February 28 that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (archived link).
Iranian missile barrages have hit Israel, while the Iran-backed Hezbollah has said it targeted naval bases in Haifa with "a barrage of high-quality missiles" on March 3 (archived here and here).
However, the circulating video predates the Iran war.
A reverse image search on Google using a keyframe from the falsely shared clip found footage showing the same explosions published by the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera on July 16, 2025 (archived link).
The report states the footage shows an Israeli attack on Syria's military headquarters that killed three people, as Israel intervened in the name of defending the Druze minority from attacks by Bedouin tribes.
AFP reported Syrian government forces entered the majority-Druze city of Sweida in July 2025 with the stated aim of overseeing a ceasefire agreed with Druze community leaders after clashes with local Bedouin tribes had left more than 100 people dead (archived link).
However, witnesses reported the government forces joined with the Bedouin in attacking Druze fighters and civilians in a bloody rampage through the city, killing nearly 250 people.
The sword-like monument seen in the video corresponds to a landmark in Damascus' Umayyad Square (archived here and here).
AFP has debunked a wave of misinformation related to the conflict in Iran.
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