Claim: A video shows Israeli citizens panicking and fleeing in Tel Aviv after Iran’s recent attack.
Fact: The claim is false as the video does not show Tel Aviv or the Israeli public. It shows hordes of fans of the singer and songwriter Louis Tomlinson crowding the area outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Argentina earlier this month in what seems like an attempt to catch a glimpse of the celebrity.
On 14 April 2024, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted a video with the caption, “Israelis in full panic after Iran launched its missiles. Now they can realise what Palestinian children face every day.” The 8-second-long video shows a massive crowd shouting and running on the streets in chaos.
Iran’s attack on Israel:
The video went viral on social media after Iran launched 300 missiles and drone attacks on Israel on 13 April. The attacks were launched in retaliation after a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on 1 April that killed 13 people.
President of the United States Joe Biden, who condemned the ‘unprecedented’ strike, claimed that the US assisted Israel in intercepting nearly all missiles and drones aimed at the country. Israel’s allies in the United States and Europe, Japan and Australia, have called for restraint, just as Russia and China have urged caution from Iran. Israel has said that the attack will be met with a response but nothing is decided yet. However, despite the rising tensions between the two countries and within the Middle East, Israel continues its attacks on Gaza.
Fact or Fiction?
Through the initial investigation, Soch Fact Check found that the viral video was widely shared across social media in different languages.
However, a fan page of singer and songwriter Louis Tomlinson retweeted the same video on 14 April, confirming that it shows crowds of the singer’s fans waiting outside his hotel in Argentina.
A further look at the comments on similar posts on X led to a user claiming to have been there at that time, who also released a video of the crowd gathered around the Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina to catch a glimpse of Louis Tomlinson.
When Soch Fact Check conducted a keyword search on Google for news of such an event it led to a story published by News Rebeat on 7 April 2024. The story details that the singer visited Argentina recently where his fans gathered in crowds outside his hotel door for hours.
An Argentinian news outlet, Teleshow, reported on the same event on 6 April 2024. The article features a video of Tomlinson interacting with his fans in the hotel vicinity.
A similar video of Tomlison interacting with fans was shared on Instagram on 7 April 2024. This clip shows a location similar to that of the viral video, confirming that the singer was in Argentina earlier this month.
Soch Fact Check then geolocated the area around Four Seasons, Buenos Aires on Google Maps.
A comparison between the landmarks visible in the viral video and Google Street View of the area confirms that the viral video shows the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina and not any area in Tel Aviv.
Landmark comparison of Four Seasons Hotel, Argentina (left) and a screen grab of viral video (right)
Virality
The video with the false claim was shared widely on X. The now-deleted post of the same video X user Jackson Hickle shared received 5 million views. It can be seen here, here and here.
On Instagram, the video received 195,000 likes and 7,000 comments and the archived version can be seen here.
It was also shared here, here and here on Facebook and here on Threads.
Conclusion: A video claiming to show the Israeli public panicking after Iran’s attack has nothing to do with the recent escalation between the two countries. The original video is from Argentina and shows fans of singer Louis Tomlison crowding the area outside his hotel at Four Seasons in Buenos Aires.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com