An old video of missiles is viral online with the false claim that it shows Hezbollah's anti-ship missiles preparing to attack US ships entering Israel via the Mediterranean Sea.
BOOM found that the video is from 2019 and shows a documentary about how Lebanon-based political party and militant group Hezbollah attacked Israeli ships during the 2006 war.
The Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7 after the latter launched an attack into Israel from Gaza leading to them facing retaliatory strikes as well. In one month, the conflict has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. On the Israeli side, 1400 have been killed and 200 others have been taken hostage. President Joe Biden of the United States has publicly stated that they stand with Israel during this conflict, along with other officials in the country who have expressed their support to Benjamin Netanyahu.
Amid this, a video showing anti-ship missiles is viral online. The verified X account of Belarusian media outlet Nexta TV shared the video with the caption, "#Hezbollah published a video demonstrating its anti-ship missiles after media reported the arrival of #US warships in the Mediterranean Sea."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video is from a 2019 documentary and shows how Hezbollah's anti-ship missile attacked Israeli vessels in 2006.
A reverse image search of some key frames from the viral video led us to a report published on Augsut 15, 2019 by Lebanon-based news outlet run by Hezbollah called 'Al-Manar'. The report carried visuals similar to the viral video and was titled "“Army to Be Drowned”: Al-Manar Documentary that Raises Eyebrows in ‘Israel’"
Click here to view.
According to the report, a documentary released by Al-Manar, titled 'Army to be Drowned' showed how Hezbollah's missiles attacked Israel's Saar-5 ships during the 2006 war.
Another report by Iran-based news agency Tasnim published on August 16, 2019 detailed how the documentary showed a Hezbollah navy commander who explained how the c-802 missile was used to attack the Israeli ships.
We also found the viral video shared in August 2019 by Iran Press News Agency with the title 'Hezbollah's C-802 anti-ship cruise missiles'
Click here to view.
Below is a comparison between the viral video and the original video by Iran Press News Agency:
The video was also shared on X by a user on August 16, 2019, calling the missile in the viral video the C-704. BOOM has not been able to independently verify the same.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, both the C-704 and C-802 are part of the same family of anti-ship missiles manufactured by China.