Video does not show Israel’s Iron Dome failing to stop Iranian missiles

Context

On April 14, 2024, Iran launched a series of missiles and drones targeting Israel. Iran stated it was retaliation for the attack on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1, 2024, which Iran has blamed on Israel. Following this, misattributed videos claiming to show the attack have circulated on social media.

Social media users have shared a video of missiles in the night sky and attributed it to Israel, claiming it shows the Iron Dome – Israel's missile defense system – intercepting missiles fired by Iran. Users state that the Iron Dome is failing to stop the missiles. 

One Threads post that shares the video claims, "Iron dome fails to stop barrage of Iranian missiles. They sent over four thousand missiles. Iron dome can protect only up to one thousand."

Screenshot of the post on Threads and the video shared. (Source:/Threads/Screenshot)

In Fact

The video does not show Iran's attack on Israel, and the video dates back to March 5, 2024. Using reverse image search tools, the same video was found to have been published by both CNN TÜRK and the Turkish newspaper Günboyu Gazetesi. Both of these articles were published on March 5. The official Twitter account of CNN TÜRK shared their article the same day.

Screenshots of the CNN TÜRK article (left) and Günboyu Gazetesi (right) with the video. (Source:/CNN TÜRK/Günboyu Gazetesi)

According to the CNN TÜRK article, when translated to English, the video shows Israel's Iron Dome air defense system responding to rockets launched from Lebanon. The article further explains that "approximately 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon to Israel. While the Iron Dome air defense system responded to the rockets, many rockets were destroyed in the air. No loss of life or property was reported in the rocket attack."

Other posts of the same video from March 5 were found when searching for the news event. The Turkish newspaper Akşam shared the footage on Twitter.

The Spanish-language American conservative media channel Voz Media also shared the footage on YouTube, with the caption "#Israel The "Iron Dome" missile defense system intercepts roughly 50 rockets launched from Lebanon." The Turkish Newspaper Milliyet also shared the video on the video platform Dailymotion on March 6. The video predates Iran's attack on Israel on April 14 and shows missiles launched at Israel from Lebanon. 

The verdict

The video has been misattributed to Iran's recent missile launch against Israel. The video predates the event and is from March 5, 2024, and shows rockets launched against Israel from Lebanon. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.