Claim: A video shows the building where Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, Iran.
Fact: The building in the video is not linked to the assassination of the Hamas leader. The video shows the building of the Iranian consulate damaged after Israel’s airstrike in April 2024.
On 31 July 2024, an X (formerly Twitter) account Baba Banaras posted a video (archive) with the caption, “Recording of the house where Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in an Israeli missile raid in the Iran capital, Tehran”.
The video shows smoke arising out of a collapsed building in the aftermath of an attack.
Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination
On 31 July 2024, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran where he had arrived to attend President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony. According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), he was killed along with one of his guards, when a “short-range projectile” struck his accommodation in Tehran.
Hamas and Iran held Israel responsible for Haniyeh’s death, although the Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied the claim. Iran has pledged to retaliate, promising “harsh punishment” for Israel. In a statement, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also declared Israel “fully responsible” for the death of the Hamas commander.
Who was Ismail Haniyeh?
Ismail Haniyeh was a Palestinian politician and Hamas leader who served as Prime Minister of Palestine from 2006–07. After the dissolution of his government and the establishment of an autonomous Hamas-led administration in the Gaza Strip, Haniyeh served as the leader of the Gaza Strip (2007–14).
In 2017, he was selected to replace Khaled Meshaal as Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza on 7 October last year, Haniyeh has been the face of Hamas’ international diplomacy and participated in efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the video’s keyframes, and the results on Google Lens led to a post on X from 2 April 2024 which carried the video from the claim. The caption of the post read, “Search and rescue teams in Damascus are still looking for bodies after 10 hours of the Israeli airstrike in the building adjacent to the Iranian embassy where leaders of IRGC were staying. Two high generals confirmed dead”.
It was also shared by multiple users on X, in April 2024, with the claim that it shows the ruins of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, after an airstrike by Israel killed 16 people, including seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Argentinian news agency Noticias Argentina also posted the same video in their report on the airstrike from 1 April 2024. When translated into English, the headline of the article stated, “Israel bombed Iran’s embassy in Syria, killing Revolutionary Guard commander”. The report further detailed that “ the Mezzeh district of the Syrian capital, saw smoke rising from the rubble of a building that had been razed and emergency vehicles parked outside. An Iranian flag hung from a flagpole in front of the rubble”.
Furthermore, Soch Fact Check found the exact location where the video was filmed on Google Maps, which confirmed that it is the site of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.
Soch Fact Check confirms that the video is unrelated to Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran.
Virality
On X, the video received 21,500 views, 518 likes and 100 reposts. It can be seen here and here.
Conclusion: A video that shows smoke arising from a building is not where Ismail Haniyeh was killed in July 2024. The video is from April 2024 and shows Israel’s airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.
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Background image in cover photo: ABC News
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