Old video of fire shared claiming to show Houthi drone strike on Israel

The context

On October 3, a user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a video showing multiple buses engulfed in flames, claiming it showed "Tel Aviv on fire after Yemeni drones successfully hit their targets." The post quickly garnered over 40,000 views before being deleted. Despite this, the same video has since been widely reposted on Facebook.

However, the video does not show a recent Yemeni attack on Israel. It dates back to 2022 and shows a bus fire unrelated to Yemeni missile activity.

What we found

Using reverse image search, we traced the video to several Israeli news reports covering a fire that took place in Safed, a city in northern Israel, in 2022.

According to Israeli news outlet Ynet, the incident occurred on June 11, 2022, when eighteen buses were completely destroyed by fire at the central bus station in Safed. Local police suspected that the arson was carried out by a gang involved in extortion, posing as a security company to collect protection fees. The video is unrelated to the current Houthi-Israel conflict.

This footage has resurfaced amid recent Houthi missile strikes on Israel on October 2. According to Reuters, Yemen's Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, claimed that three Quds 5 rockets targeted military sites deep within Israel. Saree's statement does not clarify the exact timing of this alleged missile firing, nor the exact military sites that were allegedly targeted. The Israeli military has made no official statement confirming any rocket fire from Yemen on that date.

The verdict

The video does not show a fire in Tel Aviv burning due to a Yemeni drone attack. It is footage from a 2022 fire in Safed, Israel.