Posts falsely claim unrelated videos show Iranian strike on Israeli leader's house
- Published on March 16, 2026 at 06:29
- Updated on March 16, 2026 at 06:48
- 3 min read
- By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India, AFP Middle East & North Africa
Iran's Revolutionary Guard force said it targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on March 2, but videos shared on social media that purportedly show his home on fire after an Iranian missile strike were in fact filmed in the United States. The videos in fact show a house fire in the US state of New Jersey and footage from the attacks carried out in the United States on September 11, 2001 by Al-Qaeda.
"Reports coming in that Netanyahu’s brother Iddo Netanyahu has lost his life after an Iranian missile strike targeted Netanyahu's family home," reads the caption of a Facebook video shared on March 10, 2025.
The video shows a burning home followed by a still image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's brother, Iddo.
A similar claim was also shared in a Hindi-language Facebook post from March 10, which says: "This is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard video of the attack on Netanyahu's house. After the attacks by hypersonic missiles and drones, the death of Netanyahu's brother is being confirmed. There are reports of many Israeli soldiers also being killed."
The attached video shows fire and smoke billowing from a building.
The videos were also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X posts after Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted Netanyahu's office on March 2 (archived link).
Iran has responded to a massive joint US-Israeli attack launched on February 28 with missile and drone strikes across the region (archived link).
While damage has been reported in central Israel following warnings of missiles from Iran, there have been no official reports of Netanyahu's home being struck or of the prime minister's brother being killed.
New Jersey house fire
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip of a home on fire led to the same footage posted on Facebook on February 9 (archived link).
"Happening Now: Park Place, Galloway, NJ," reads its caption.
Subsequent keyword searches on Google led to reports published by local media on February 10 about a fire that engulfed the home in Galloway Township on the night of February 8 (archived here and here).
The location matches Google Street View imagery of the home (archived link).
AFP also debunked the same claim in Arabic.
WTC footage
A separate reverse image search using keyframes from the falsely shared clip of a building on fire led to the same video uploaded on YouTube on October 27, 2018 (archived link).
The caption of the video said it showed footage of the World Trade Center (WTC), which was struck by hijacked planes during the September 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda (archived link).
The video also includes other clips related to the attacks.
The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and triggered the US-led Global War on Terror, starting with the invasion of Afghanistan.
Subsequent keyword search led to similar footage published by Getty Images on June 29, 2011 (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Middle East war here.
March 16, 2026 Updates lead to change description of 9/11 attacks
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