By: Naledi Mashishi
April 16 2024
No, Iranian missiles didn’t strike Israel's Ben Gurion Airport
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Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
Claim ID 54bb3dcc
What's the claim?
"Iran hits Ben Gurion airport in Israel,” says a reel on Instagram from 14 April 2024. The post includes a low-quality video showing an aircraft striking a target in the distance.
On Saturday, April 13, Iran attacked Israel by launching over 300 drones and missiles in response to Israel’s bombing of an Iranian consulate in Syria. Israel, along with key military allies such as the U.S., U.K., and Jordan, were able to intercept 99 percent of them.
However, some missiles were able to get through. While they caused some damage to infrastructure, Ben Gurion Airport wasn’t one of the buildings hit.
What we found
Ben Gurion Airport is the busiest international airport in Israel. According to media outlets, Israel’s airspace was closed during the attack, and flights were delayed or canceled. There is video footage online of the airport being evacuated and shut down after the missiles were launched.
But there’s no evidence that Ben Gurion was hit during the attack. The same video footage in the Instagram post was used by TRT World, which reported that it showed Ramon Airport being attacked – not Ben Gurion. One outlet reported that a drone hit Ramon Airport, located near Israel’s southernmost city, 317 KM south of Ben Gurion. There was little infrastructure damage and no reports of casualties.
Map showing distance between Ben Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport close to where the Iranian missile hit (Source: OpenStreetMap/Logically Facts)
Israel’s airspace was reopened in the early hours of Sunday morning, and flights have resumed operations.
Map showing flights have resumed in and out of Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) on 16 April 2024 (Source: FlightAware/Screenshot)
Logically Facts has contacted the Israel Airport Authority for comment.
The verdict
An Instagram reel claims that Israel’s busiest airport, Ben Gurion Airport, was struck during Iran’s missile attack. However, the video uses actual footage showing Ramon Airport being attacked. Ben Gurion has resumed normal operations since Israel’s airspace was reopened on Sunday morning. We have therefore rated this claim as misleading.