False: The photo shows an airstrike by Israel on Syria on February 19.

Context

The Syrian military has alleged that Israeli missiles hit the capital Damascus and surrounding areas on February 19, leaving five people dead, according to a report by BBC. According to an official quoted in the report, a building in a central Damascus neighborhood was hit, causing the casualties. While Israel's military refused to comment on the attack, Israel has previously shot missiles at Syria, targeting Hezbollah and Iran militant groups. The bombing is the first since the deadly earthquake earlier in February and comes a month after an alleged Israeli attack that left four dead.

In this context, an image showing a streak of a missile across the sky has been circulating on social media, claiming to be the recent airstrike in Syria over Damascus. Some tweets on February 19 condemned Israel for the alleged airstrike as it recovers from the recent earthquakes. Another user shared the picture claiming that it showed the Damascus skyline and wrote, "God help Syria."

In Fact

A reverse image search revealed that the photo was taken in 2018 and is not connected with the recent attacks on Syria.

According to a news report by AP, photographer Hassan Ammar captured the image on April 14, 2018, when the United States, United Kingdom, and France launched an attack on the Syrian capital of Damascus. The image's caption reads, "Damascus skies erupt with surface-to-air missile fire as the U.S. launches an attack on Syria targeting different parts of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, early Saturday, April 14, 2018. Syria's capital has been rocked by loud explosions that lit up the sky with heavy smoke as U.S. President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for the country's alleged use of chemical weapons."

The AP image was also published in a report by CBS News, along with other visuals of the attack and its aftermath. The report stated that on April 14, 2018, the U.S., the U.K., and France launched airstrikes on Syria as part of a joint military response to Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons on April 7. The countries alleged that a suspected poison gas attack had left dozens in the rebel-controlled Damascus suburb of Douma dead and resorted to firing the missiles to reduce the chemical weapons capabilities of Syria. The Guardian quoted the Pentagon as saying that a total of 105 missiles were fired, hitting three sites in Damascus and Homs.

The Verdict

The viral image shows the 2018 military strikes on Syria by the U.S., U.K., and France and is unrelated to the recent alleged Israeli attack on the capital, Damascus. Therefore, we have marked this as false.