Old images of damaged iPhone, toilet shared as aftermath of Lebanon explosions

What is the claim?

Two images—a damaged iPhone and a broken toilet lid—have circulated on social media, claiming they are from recent explosions in Lebanon. The explosions, allegedly caused by hand-held devices used by operatives of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, resulted in around 32 deaths over two days.

A post on X (formerly Twitter) featured the image of the damaged iPhone with the caption: “Allegedly phones exploded too. Reports of clocks, radios, fingerprint machines, solar panels, and pagers also exploding.” This post has received nearly 200 likes and 118 reposts. Archived versions of similar posts can be found here, here, and here.

Another post on X showed the image of a broken toilet seat, purportedly damaged by an explosion, with the caption: “Breaking: Initial reports of toilets exploding in Lebanon.” This post garnered nearly 1,000 likes. Archived versions of such posts are available here, here, and here.

Screenshots of viral posts circulating on social media. 
(Source: X/Telegram/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts) 

However, Logically Facts determined that these images are from unrelated incidents and do not depict the recent Lebanon explosions.

What did we find?

A reverse image search revealed that both images were taken well before the recent Lebanon explosions.

iPhone image from 2021

The image of the damaged iPhone was originally published by Egyptian media outlet Cairo 24 on March 19, 2021. According to the report, a child named Hamza from Maadi Island, Egypt, sustained a hand injury when a charging iPhone exploded. The child’s father filed a complaint against the company, citing negligence, and noted that the phone was only a month old. The article included a photo of Hamza with his bandaged hand, along with several images of the burnt phone.

Another Arabic media outlet, Nabd App, also published the image and provided similar details about the incident.

Toilet seat image from 2020

The image of the broken toilet seat was first published by the South China Morning Post on January 28, 2020. The report detailed an explosion in a public toilet in Hong Kong, caused by a suspected homemade bomb. The caption read: “A suspected improvised explosive device destroyed a public toilet at King George V Memorial Park on Jordan Road in West Kowloon on January 27.”

Local media outlets Sing Tao and Wow TV also reported on the incident, sharing the same image and confirming it was taken in Hong Kong, not in Lebanon as suggested by the viral social media posts.

These reports noted that multiple explosions occurred in Hong Kong during the 2020 anti-government protests.

The Lebanon explosions

On September 17, 2024, thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously, injuring thousands, including Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, and killing at least 12 people. The following day, on September 18, a second wave of explosions targeted handheld radio devices, such as walkie-talkies, in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon.

These attacks are widely believed to have been carried out by Israel amid rising tensions with Hezbollah following the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7, 2023. While Israel has not commented on the incidents, Hezbollah has blamed Israel and vowed retaliation. The Lebanese government condemned the attacks, calling them "criminal Israeli aggression."

The verdict

Old and unrelated images from 2020 and 2021 have been shared with the false claim that they depict the aftermath of the recent explosions in Lebanon.