After Iran fired tons of of ballistic missiles into Israeli cities in response to Israel’s navy marketing campaign, social media customers shared an AI-generated video falsely claiming it exhibits the destruction in Tel Aviv. The clip was made utilizing Google AI and was traced to an Instagram account that posts AI content material.
“This footage just isn’t recorded within the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, or Syria, however in Tel Aviv, Israel, exhibiting the destruction of some buildings within the metropolis after an Iranian hypersonic missile assault,” says the Indonesian-language caption of a video on X on June 15, 2025.
Arabic-language textual content within the video’s top-right nook reads, “Tel Aviv”.
The 16-second video exhibits toppled buildings and broken constructions.
Screenshot of false submit captured on June 19, 2025, with a pink X added by AFP
Iran hit Israel with waves of drone and missile strikes in a single day, killing three individuals and wounding dozens (archived hyperlink).
The assault got here after Israel’s huge strikes on June 13, which hit nuclear and navy amenities, and killed high commanders, nuclear scientists and dozens of civilians.
The longtime foes have continued to commerce lethal hearth of their most intense confrontation in historical past, fuelling fears of a drawn-out battle that might engulf the Center East (archived hyperlink).
Iran’s well being ministry stated a minimum of 224 individuals have been killed and greater than 1,200 wounded, whereas Israel’s prime minister’s workplace stated a minimum of 24 individuals have been killed and 592 others injured.
The identical video and declare have circulated on TikTok, Fb and Instagram. It has additionally been shared in different languages together with Thai, English, Bengali, Arabic and Spanish.
Nonetheless, a reverse picture search of the keyframes revealed the video was made utilizing Google’s AI instruments.
Screenshot from Google Pictures, with the AI label highlighted by AFP
One other search discovered the clip was posted in an Instagram submit on Could 28, days earlier than Iran’s assault on Israel, alongside hashtags corresponding to #southlebanon (archived hyperlink).
The account has shared different AI-generated movies, and its profile reads “AI resistance”.
AFP has debunked different misinformation associated to the Israel-Iran battle right here.
