Old footage from Pope Francis's visit in East Timor misrepresented as Israeli exodus
- Published on April 17, 2026 at 07:07
- 3 min read
- By AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation AFP Indonesia
After the United States and Iran ended face-to-face talks on April 12 without an agreement to end the war, posts shared an old video of massive crowds in the streets falsely claiming it depicts people leaving Israel. The video was in fact taken from Pope Francis's visit to East Timor in September 2024.
"The exodus of hundreds of thousands of settlers from Israel reflects a very real state of panic following the collapse of US-Iran negotiations. Everyone is on edge, and the Israeli government is paralysed by fear of a major confrontation it cannot handle," reads an Indonesian-language Facebook post shared on April 14.
The post includes a clip of large crowds of people walking alongside slow-moving vehicles.
The posts circulated after unsuccessful US-Iran talks on April 12 to end a war that has rippled across the Middle East, leaving a fragile two-week ceasefire in doubt (archived link).
US officials said the negotiations collapsed over what they described as Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear program, while Iranian officials blamed the US for talks breaking down without specifying the sticking points.
The United States said on April 15, however, that it is discussing a possible second round of peace talks with Iran in Pakistan and is optimistic about reaching a deal as Tehran threatened to shut down Red Sea trade unless Washington lifted a naval blockade of its ports (archived link).
Similar claims also spread on Instagram, Threads and TikTok and in multiple languages such as English, Arabic, and Bengali.
But the circulating video is not related to the ongoing war.
AFP previously debunked false claims about the same video in 2024 and 2025.
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 used in the post include #timor #katolikroma and #pausfransiskus, indicating that the footage was taken during the visit of the late Pope Francis to East Timor on September 9, 2024 (archived link).
Francis died of a stroke in April 2025 (archived link).
The TikTok user who shared the footage, East Timor-based photographer Rey Marques, previously told AFP he did not know who filmed the video but said it was shot near the Raikotu General Cemetery.
A painting of the late pontiff can be seen in the TikTok video, which corresponds to a mural seen in an AFP photo taken during the pope's visit to East Timor.
"Catholic faithful walk in past a mural of Pope Francis to attend a holy mass led by Pope Francis next to the Esplanade of Tasitolu park in Dili on September 10, 2024," the photo caption says.
The clearer video also shows the flag of East Timor on street lights and a poster of the pontiff.
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).
The mural of Pope Francis and buildings further down the street can all be seen on Google Maps Street View imagery of East Timor's capital Dili (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misinformation stemming from the war in the Middle East.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
