Video from Argentina falsely shared as Israelis fleeing Iran's retaliatory attack

What’s the claim?

Iran initiated its first direct attack on Israeli territory by launching drones and missiles late on April 13, two weeks after the April 1 strike by Israel on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.

As tensions between Israel and Iran intensify, a video capturing a large crowd in a state of chaos is circulating widely on social media platforms with the claim that it shows people in Israel fleeing amid attacks by Iran. A user on Instagram shared the video with the caption, "Breaking News Israelis panic and flee to safety after Iran launched its retaliatory attack.” The post had 143,000 likes at the time of writing this story. An archived version of the post can be found here.

The video is also circulating on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), with one post on X accumulating over 400,000 views and 400 shares. An archived version of the post can be found here.

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

What we found

Logically Facts found that the video originates from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has no connection to the recent attack by Iran on Israel.

Numerous comments on the video claimed that the it was taken outside a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where fans were waiting to take a picture with Louis Tomlinson, an English singer and member of the boy band One Direction. 

According to a report by Argentinian online newspaper, Infobae, Tomlinson stayed at the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires during his tour in Argentina in early April 2024. He was there to promote his upcoming show on May 18, 2024, at the José Amalfitani Stadium, where he is scheduled to present his album "Faith in The Future."

At the 3:30 minute mark of the video published by Infobae in their report, we could see the vintage street light and the white flyover barriers that can be seen at the 0:06 second mark in the viral video.

Screenshot showing the comparison between the viral video and the video shared by Infobae. (Source: X/Infobae/Markup by Logically Facts)

In a video posted on X by Louis Tomlinson's official Twitter account on April 8, 2024, Tomlinson can be seen taking photos with the crowd. The background of the video bears a resemblance to the scenes observed in the viral video.

We identified the location in the viral video as the area surrounding the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires, where Louis Tomlinson was staying. Utilizing Google Street View, we observed similarities in the architecture of the hotel and the visuals depicted in the viral video claiming to be from Israel.

The vintage street lights, traffic signal lights, and elevated trash cans on the street are strikingly similar in both locations. Additionally, the bridge road featuring white barriers matches those seen in the viral video, corroborating the conclusion that the footage was not captured in Israel but outside the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires.

Comparison showing the visuals in viral video and Google Street View. (Source: X/Google Maps)

The verdict

The video is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was shot during an appearance by singer Louis Tomlinson outside the Four Seasons hotel there, and are not from Israel. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.