Yemen’s Houthi rebels carried out a drone attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv on October 3, 2024, to show support for Palestine and Lebanon's ongoing conflict against Israel.
In light of this incident, a video has gone viral on social media which shows numerous buses on fire at night seemingly at a rest stop. Those sharing the video claim that it is from Tel Aviv and shows the aftermath of the Houthi drone attack.
A social media user shared the video with the caption, “Tel Aviv on fire after Yemeni suicide drones have successfully hit their targets.”
SouthCheck found that the claim was false. The viral video is old and shows buses that were allegedly set on fire by extortionists in Safed, Israel.
Through a Google reverse image search, we found the same video uploaded on a YouTube channel called Al-Mayadeen Channel on June 11, 2022. The caption suggested that the video shows 18 buses engulfed in fire at a central station in the city of Safed (Israel). Al Mayadeen also reported the incident on their website on June 11, 2022.
Though the cause of the incident was not mentioned, the report stated: “Israeli media reported that in the past two weeks, two buses belonging to a private transportation company in Safad were set on fire, and days later, eight buses belonging to the Qiryat Shemona Passengers Company, the largest bus company in the Upper Al-Jalil, were set on fire.”
Searching with appropriate keywords, we also found a screenshot of the video published in a report by The Times of Israel on June 11, 2022. The report associated with the image stated that 18 buses were torched at the central bus station in the northern city of Safed. The attack was suspected to be an arson job linked to demands for ‘protection money.’
Hence, we conclude that the viral video is old and unrelated to a recent attack on Tel Aviv.
