No, these images don’t show Israelis fleeing out of fear of a war with Hezbollah

Quang Pham
·1 min read

Thousands of Israelis are flocking to the nation’s airports in a bid to leave the country out of fear of an imminent war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – or that’s what social media users have been claiming. However, social media users based their claims on photos and videos of a long line at the airport that started circulating on June 23. But it turns out that these images actually date from October 2023.

If you only have a minute…

  • Thousands of Israelis are fleeing the country out of a fear of a war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah according to images of long lines at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport that started circulating on social media on June 23.

  • It turns out, however, that these photos and videos are from October 2023. Moreover, while the Israeli government has discussed the possibility of carrying out an armed offensive, experts say that it couldn't be launched for weeks or even months.

The fact check, in detail

Videos and photos posted in October 2023

If you carry out a reverse image search, then you can find the first time this photo appeared online (check out our handy guide to find out how to do this kind of search yourself). The photo appears in an article dated October 11, 2023 on a Russian website, Topwar.ru that reports on defence-related topics.

Reuters denies announcing that there would be an Israeli offensive some time in the next 48 hours


Read more on The Observers - France 24

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