Since Hamas militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, VERIFY has been fact-checking footage claiming to show scenes from the deadly war.
One dramatic video posted on Oct. 24 by a verified X account claims to show the moment a missile launched by Israel hit a multi-story building in Gaza City. In the video, a camera crew witnesses the strike from a nearby roof.
“FOOTAGE: ISRAELI IOF [sic] AIRSTRIKE DESTROYS BUILDING LIVE ON CAMERA DURING NEWS BROADCAST,” one X post says.
Another verified X account’s post from Oct. 24 that contains the video in part says: “ISRAEL JUST BOMBED CIVILIAN BUILDINGS!”
THE QUESTION
Does the video in these posts show an Israeli missile strike during the current Israel-Hamas war?
THE SOURCES
- Video posted to Instagram by user @omaralsersawi on May 12, 2021
- Israel Defense Forces X post from May 12, 2021
- ABC News X post from May 13, 2021
- Al Jazeera reports from May 2021
- Video published by BBC on May 15, 2021
- InVid and RevEye, video forensics tools
THE ANSWER
No, the video in these posts doesn’t show an Israeli missile strike during the current Israel-Hamas war. The video contains two clips from May 2021 showing an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City.
WHAT WE FOUND
Since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, social media has been flooded with videos and images purporting to show the current fighting. Many do not. This video is an example of that – it is being shared as recent, but is a compilation of two clips from Gaza City taken on May 12 and May 13, 2021, respectively.
Using InVid to isolate the keyframes in the video and RevEye to conduct a reverse image search, VERIFY was able to match the first 57 seconds of the video being shared in October 2023 to another that was posted by Instagram user Omar Alsersawi on May 12, 2021.
This is the earliest and highest quality version of the video VERIFY found online, leading VERIFY to believe this is likely the original video posted to Instagram on May 12, 2021. The same man in the blue shirt and angles that show the building collapsing can be seen in this video and in the one that is being shared that claims to show recent fighting in October 2023.
The last 14 seconds of the viral video show rubble and damage to the city streets. Alsersawi’s Instagram video doesn’t include that clip, but it is included in this ABC News X post from May 13, 2021. The first portion of the ABC News clip has Alsersawi’s footage followed by the scene of the rubble. According to the date stamp on the ABC video, the portion showing the street view was taken on May 13, the day after the tower collapsed.
VERIFY reached out to Alsersawi to confirm he originally took the full video but did not hear back at the time of publication. His Instagram account says he is an artist living in Gaza.
On May 10, 2021, fighting erupted between Israeli forces and Hamas militants after Hamas launched long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The competing territorial claims to Jerusalem lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have triggered bouts of violence for decades.
Amid that fighting, on May 12, 2021, Israel directed missile strikes aimed at three multi-story buildings in Gaza City that Israel Defense Forces said housed Hamas military intelligence offices. One of those buildings was the Al-Shorouk tower – that is the building hit by a missile strike in the viral video.
On May 12, 2021, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) posted an image of the Al-Shorouk tower along with a post that said: “Moments ago, IDF fighter jets struck a 14-story building in southern Gaza, which housed Hamas military intelligence offices & infrastructure used to communicate tactical-military information. We warned civilians in the building & provided them sufficient time to evacuate.”
VERIFY reached out to Alsersawi but did not hear back at the time of publication. His Instagram account says he is an artist living in Gaza.
VERIFY found several other videos from May 2021 of the Al-Shorouk tower being hit and then collapsing. This video from Al Jazeera shows the missile strike with a caption that says “Israel destroys third Gaza tower.” BBC Arabic reporter Adnan Elbursh was reporting live from a nearby rooftop when the building was struck by a missile and collapsed behind him.
According to a May 13, 2021 Al Jazeera article, a total of three buildings were targeted beginning on May 12. The Shorouq building, as it is referred to in the article, housed television channels and media offices. Another building razed in the Israeli airstrikes was the Al-Jalaa building, which housed the Associated Press and Al Jazeera.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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