Old video of building destruction in West Bank falsely shared as visuals of recent Beirut attack

What’s the claim

On January 2, 2024, Saleh Arouri, a deputy leader of Hamas and one of the founders of its military branch, the Qassam Brigades, was reportedly killed in what is believed to be an Israeli airstrike in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon.

Following this attack, a video showing a series of explosions in a building is being extensively shared online, incorrectly claiming that the visuals show the moment Hamas leader Saleh Al-Arouri was assassinated in Beirut. 

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared with the caption, “Saleh Al-Arouri was hit by the missile as he entered his vehicle, after leaving a meeting in a building in the Dahieh neighbourhood, near the Hadi Nasrallah highway. The report also said that al-Arouri's office was also hit by missiles.” Archived versions of such posts can be found here and here.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video is unrelated to the January 2024 Beirut drone attack. Logically Facts determined that the video shows the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) bombing a residential building located in the eastern part of Nablus, West Bank.

What we found

Aljazeera Mubasher posted the same video on their YouTube channel on November 3, 2023, with a title in Arabic that translates to: "The moment Israeli occupation forces attacked the residence of prisoner Khaled Kharousha in Nablus."

The viral video posted on the YouTube channel of Aljazeera Mubasher on November 3,2023. (Source: YouTube)

Multiple news outlets covered the incident early in November 2023, with several local media outlets sharing the same video clip showing an Israeli attack on a building in the West Bank. According to the Times of Israel, the building seen in the viral video is the residence of Khaled Kharousha, who was arrested for helping his father in connection with the shooting of two Israelis in February 2023.  At the time, clashes were reported elsewhere in the West Bank.

On November 3, 2023, the IDF also shared footage on their official YouTube channel that captured the same event from a different angle, showing the demolition of the apartment. The video was titled in Hebrew, and the English translation reads, “Demolition of the terrorist's house in the Shomron regional division.”

Screenshot of videos shared by news outlets in November 2023. (Source: Aljazeera Mubasher)

The original visuals of the building where Saleh Arouri was assassinated in Beirut can be seen in a video shared by the Associated Press on January 3, 2024. Unlike what we see in the viral video, the original video of the Beirut attack does not have any lit signage on the building.

The verdict

The video does not show the residence of Saleh Al-Arouri being destroyed by the IDF in Beirut. It shows the IDF bombing a residential building in Nablus, West Bank in November 2023. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.