What was claimed
A picture shows Tel Aviv lit up in flames.
Our verdict
False. The image is actually of a fire which broke out after the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow earlier this year.
Picture of Tel Aviv ‘up in flames’ is from Moscow terror attack
14 October 2024
A picture circulating on social media alongside claims it shows Tel Aviv “lit up in flames” is actually from the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia, earlier this year.
One post on X, formerly Twitter, has more than 84,000 views. It has also spread to Facebook.
On 1 October Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, with some seen above Tel Aviv. But the picture being shared is unrelated to the conflict in the Middle East.
The image was originally posted by RIA Novosti, a Russian news agency, on 22 March 2024, and shows a fire in a Moscow concert hall after a terrorist attack there in which 143 people were killed.
We’ve written several articles about miscaptioned images from the recent conflict in the Middle East, including claims a picture showed a damaged ring belonging to killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and images showed smoke above Tel Aviv buildings.
During global news events it’s important to consider whether videos and images shared on social media really show what they claim to. Our guides to verifying misleading images can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the picture shows a fire after the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow earlier this year, and is unrelated to the recent conflict in the Middle East.