Footage of a missile launch posted on social media is purported to be from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
This is false. The footage is from a demonstration of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system by the Russian Ministry of Defence and has nothing to do with the Middle East conflict.
A Facebook video (screenshot here), posted on November 27, claims the footage is coverage of “Israel vs Palestine live war”. It features a series of misleading hashtags such as “army”, “israel”, “palestine”, “gaza” and “bomb”.
The post is one of many on social media falsely claiming to depict scenes from the conflict in the Middle East.
The author’s motivations are unclear. However, it is just the latest in a number of debunked posts (examples here, here and here) claiming to show military action from the ongoing war in the Middle East.
A reverse image search of a screenshot from the footage reveals the launch was orchestrated by the Russian military as a demonstration of its missile system.
Footage of the demonstration circulated in 2022 on Rutube, a Russian video-streaming platform, as news channels covered the ongoing war in Ukraine – see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022 following an escalation of tensions between the two nations dating back to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Verdict
The claim a video shows footage of a missile being fired in the Israel-Gaza conflict is false.
The footage shows the Russian military demonstrating its S-300 missile system.
False — The claim is inaccurate.
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