Israeli military embellishes video of Iranian attack

The Israeli military appears to have inserted seven-year-old footage of a Russian Grad launch into a purported compilation showing the Iranian missile and drone strikes launched against the Jewish state over the weekend.

The video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption “Israelis’ reality in the last hours,” has raised many eyebrows online.

While most fragments of the footage show missiles flying over Israeli territory overnight, the final several seconds have nothing to do with either Israel or Iran but rather appear to be footage of the launch of a Russian Grad rocket system that was posted on YouTube back in 2017.

The discrepancy was noticed by X user Mohammed Zubair, who voiced his protest in a post and suggested that the fragment may in fact be as old as 2014.

The IDF has not responded to the user’s claim.

Netizens have been divided on Zubair’s findings, with some praising his fact-checking skills, while others pointed to the fact that the IDF clip is more motivational in nature and does not claim to be official footage.

Tehran fired a barrage of more than 300 missiles and kamikaze drones at Israel overnight on Saturday, according to estimates by the IDF. The attack came in retaliation for an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria earlier this month that killed several high-ranking Iranian military officials. Tehran blamed the attack on Israel.

The majority of Iran’s missiles were said to have been shot down before they reached Israeli airspace. However, unverified footage of the airstrikes circulating online purportedly showing several projectiles hitting targets on the ground in Israel.

The Times of Israel reported that West Jerusalem has yet to decide on whether to respond to the Iranian attack or how it would do so. However, Tehran warned Israel earlier against taking any retaliatory measures, as they would be met with a “much more extensive” response.