New York City fire footage misrepresented as Middle East war
- Published on March 31, 2026 at 23:05
- 2 min read
- By AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
Various images are spreading on Facebook in posts claiming they show an explosion caused by an Iranian missile strike on Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv. But the photos are misrepresented, and in fact show stills from footage of a March 17, 2026 rooftop fire in New York City.
"Breaking | An Ir-*nian multi-stage missile targets the General Staff building in Tel Av-v... and the strike reaches the heart of the command," says a March 28, 2026 post on Facebook.
Similar posts spread in English and Arabic across social media as the war in the Middle East -- triggered by US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader and set off a wave of retaliatory attacks throughout the region -- stretched into its second month.
Iranian attacks on Tel Aviv have caused damage throughout the city. The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said a man was killed in one such strike on March 24.
However, AI-generated and out-of-context images have also spread repeatedly in social media posts seeking to exaggerate the extent of damage to Israel's most populous city.
The images claimed to show an attack on the Israel Defense Forces headquarters are similarly misrepresented.
Reverse image searches surfaced footage and photos from news outlets and social media showing the same scene, described as a fire that broke out March 17 atop a Manhattan skyscraper, near an annual St. Patrick's Day parade (archived here, here, here and here).
The video-licensing websites Newsflare, ViralHog and Spectee published similar footage (archived here, here and here).
New York City authorities said the blaze ignited in the high-rise's cooling tower, part of its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. Firefighters extinguished the flames within two hours, according to reports (archived here).
The New York City Fire Department also shared video of the billowing smoke on X, writing that the incident took place on East 43rd Street (archived here).
AFP matched the rooftop to satellite imagery captured by Google Earth near that address, further corroborating the location.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about the war in the Middle East here.
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