A video with more than one million views purports to show dramatic footage of the Israeli Air Force attacking Gaza City.
This is false. The video features two sets of footage. The first is an air display over Cairo to celebrate the graduation of Egyptian Air Force pilots and the 50th anniversary of the October War.
The second lot of footage is from inside the cockpit of a US Navy aircraft that ends with it landing on the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.
The video (screenshot here) was posted on October 17 and at the time of writing had amassed 18,000 shares and more than one million views.
A caption on the video reads “Israel Attacks gaza” and “israel today live.”
But the video was shot about 350km from Gaza, in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.
Rather than a bombing raid, the first part of the video shows several aircraft taking part in a flypast to mark the graduation of personnel from the nation’s military academies.
The event, held on October 13, was attended by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
As well as celebrating the graduations, the flypast marked the 50th anniversary of the October War, also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War or the Yom Kippur War.
Before the graduation ceremony, several practice runs were held over the city in the weeks before October 13.
They were documented by locals on social media, including this post from September 24 and this from September 20.
It isn’t clear if the clip in question is from one of the practice runs or the October 13 ceremony.
However, it is easy to match the aircraft and their formation from the supposed attack video and the various videos of the ceremonial flypast.
The large aircraft at the centre of the formation is one of the Egyptian Air Force‘s Il-76 cargo planes.
In its wake are Karakorum-8E aircraft from the Silver Stars aerobatic display team flying in a V-formation.
Then, bringing up the rear are three Dassault Rafale fighter jets.
From the 43-second mark the footage switches to the inside of a cockpit.
However, this is not the Israeli Air Force. Instead, the footage features US Navy pilots flying F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
At 47 seconds you can also see an American flag arm patch on the pilot.
From 1min 26secs the aircraft begin their approach to land on an aircraft carrier.
However, the Israeli Navy does not have any aircraft carriers. Instead, the vessel pictured is the USS Harry S. Truman.
The vessel’s hull code (75) is visible on the aircraft carrier’s tower at the 1min 31secs mark.
The Verdict
The claim that footage shows the Israeli Air Force attacking Gaza City is false.
The first clip shows the Egyptian Air Force taking part in an air display over Cairo to mark the graduation of military personnel from the country’s military academies and the 50th anniversary of the October War.
The second section of footage shows US Navy fighter pilots landing on the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.
False — The claim is inaccurate.
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