2023 video of Israel’s Iron Dome intercepting Hamas rockets shared as recent Iran attack

By: Azra Ali
April 16 2024

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Screenshots of the viral posts. (Source: Instagram/Screenshot)

What is the claim?

A video of drones and missiles seen over buildings in the night sky has been shared on social media, with users claiming it shows Israel's Iron Dome intercepting missiles fired by Iran. The Iron Dome is an Israeli air defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery.

This claim follows Iran's launch of a series of missiles and drones targeting Israel, seen as retaliation for the attack on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1, 2024, which Iran has blamed on Israel.

One social media user shared the video on Instagram with the overlaid text, "First batch of Iranian drones coming through, overwhelming the Iron Dome - missiles coming." The post has garnered over 5,000 likes (archive here). Archives of similar posts can be found here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral posts. (Source: Instagram/X/Screenshot)

However, the viral video originated in October 2023 and is not recent.

How did we verify this? 

Many viral posts containing this video displayed The Telegraph's logo in the top right corner. A reverse image search led us to the original video published by The Telegraph on their YouTube channel on October 12, 2023. The 42-second video, titled "Israel's Iron Dome intercepts Hamas rockets in Ashkelon," matches the now-viral video. The text in the top left corner of the video reads, "ASHKELON, ISRAEL Credit: clashreport via X."

We also found the original video shared by Clash Report, a media outlet, on their X account with the caption, "Hamas rockets vs. Iron Dome. Ashkelon," posted on October 12, 2023. According to the user’s bio, the account shares "breaking news, reports, and opinions from ongoing clashes of the world." This indicates that the video has been online for the past six months and is not recent.

International media outlets published similar visuals of the Iron Dome intercepting rockets and missiles in October 2023. Videos published by BBC on October 8, 2023, and by ABC 7 Chicago on October 9, 2023, showed different angles of the Iron Dome intercepting missiles over Ashkelon, reporting that Hamas fired the rockets.

The verdict

The video of drones and missiles seen over buildings—shared as Israel intercepting rockets fired by Iran—dates back to October 2023 and is not recent. Therefore, we have marked the claim as misleading.