Clip of 'burning Mossad building' made with AI
"Israel was boasting about Mossad to the whole world that this intelligence agency, Mossad, is very powerful," says a Hindi-language X post published June 17.
"Iran blew up the entire Mossad headquarters building in the air with a single hypersonic missile."
The post includes an eight-second clip of a massive explosion followed by a fire that engulfs and destroys a structure, claiming it shows a "burning Mossad building."
Image
Screenshot of the false X post taken June 23, 2025, with a red X added by AFP
Similar posts on Facebook also falsely portrayed the video as a genuine scene from the unprecedented exchange of that have killed hundreds in Iran and two dozen in Israel (archived link).
The Middle East adversaries have been trading deadly fire in their most intense confrontation in history since Israel carried out surprise strikes against Iran, targeting nuclear and military sites (archived link).
Tehran has said its targets in Israel included "sensitive" security sites, claiming attacks on the headquarters of the Mossad spy agency and air force bases (archived link).
The United States, joining its ally Israel's military campaign against Iran, attacked an underground uranium enrichment centre with massive bunker-busting bombs and hit two other nuclear facilities.
US President Donald Trump announced on June 23 that Iran and Israel had agreed to a staggered ceasefire (archived link).
A reverse image search of keyframes found the clip posted May 18 on TikTok -- before the Iran-Israel war (archived link).
account has previously shared fabricated clips and has a disclaimer on its profile that reads: "ALL VIDEOS I POST ARE AI GENERATED."
Image
Screenshot of a TikTok account taken June 23, 2025, with a disclaimer highlighted by AFP
An AFP analysis of the clip found visual errors, including debris from the blast suddenly disappearing.
Such mistakes still occur despite the meteoric rise in generative AI technology and are a tell-tale sign that visuals are inauthentic.
Image
Screenshot of frames from the falsely shared video, with the disappearing elements highlighted by AFP
AFP has debunked more misinformation related to the Iran-Israel conflict here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AFP
an hour ago
- AFP
Video of Trump lauding Bangladesh leader is manipulated
reads part of a Bengali-language Facebook post on May 12, 2025. It features a blurry video apparently showing Trump commending Yunus during a meeting. "Yunus is a great personality and my friend also. He has recently taken charge of the interim government of Bangladesh," Trump supposedly says. "Dr Yunus will play a big role in making Bangladesh prosperous." Image Screenshot of the false post taken June 19, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Similar posts among Yunus's supporters as political parties jostling for power in Bangladesh were demanding the Nobel Peace Prize winner to fix an election timetable. He has since announced polls will be held April 2026 (archived link). The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted by a student-led revolt in August 2024, ending her iron-fisted rule of 15 years. Comments to the posts indicate some social media users believed the video was authentic. A reverse image search on Google found of the meeting published on the verified Facebook page of American news channel Fox News on April 30, 2025 (archived link). But the audio has been manipulated and nowhere in the original clip does Trump refer to Yunus. "I just wanna thank everybody, this is really very impressive and I hope people at home get to see some of it," Trump says. "Nobody's ever done public cabinet meetings. They were quiet for a reason because they weren't impressive, especially in the last administration." Image Screenshot comparison of the manipulated video (L) and the clip from Fox News with similarities highlighted by AFP An analysis of the audio in the circulating clip using the voice cloning detection tool Hiya in the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, found it is "very likely AI-generated" (archived link). Image AFP has previously debunked misinformation about Trump and Bangladesh here and here.
AFP
2 hours ago
- AFP
Old blast videos falsely depicted as US strikes on Iran
"The first video of the explosion in Iran after the US attack witnessed by a foreign affairs expert has emerged online," reads the Burmese-language caption to footage of a massive night-time explosion, shared on Facebook June 22, 2025. Image Screenshot of the false post taken June 24, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Another post from the Philippines shared a six-second clip of a massive fireball with the caption: "Breaking! USA bombs Iran's Fordow Nuclear site on Saturday!" Image Screenshot of the false post taken on June 23, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Similar posts surfaced in Israel and Malaysia hours after the United States launched strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with Iranian nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz (archived link). Iran and Israel have been trading deadly fire in their most intense confrontation in history since Israel carried out surprise attacks against Iran on June 13 (archived link). US President Donald Trump said a ceasefire between the Middle East foes was in force on June 24, urging both sides to "not violate it" (archived link). However, both clips predate the war that have killed hundreds in Iran and two dozen in Israel. Ukraine drone strike A combined reverse image and keyword search on Google found higher quality versions of the first video in multiple news reports about a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian ammunition depot in Tver region in September 2024 (archived here and here). Image Screenshot comparison of the video from the false post (L) to the video published by CNN A Ukrainian drone attack on an arms depot in Russia's western Tver region on September 18, 2024 sparked a massive blaze that led to the evacuation of nearby residents, AFP reported at the time (archived link). Further keyword searches found an X post from an account specialising in geolocating military activities from the Russia-Ukraine war that analysed the clip (archived link). Using details from the analysis, AFP was able to confirm the video was filmed in Toropets by comparing features with Google Maps street imagery of the Russian town. Image Comparison of the video with visuals from Google Maps with similarities highlighted by AFP Syria bombardment Another reverse image search traced the second video to several news reports including Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera and NBC News on December 16, 2024 about Israeli strikes in Syria's coastal Tartus region, a week after the latter's president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown (archived here, here and here). Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (L) and the Al Jazeera report The area mentioned in the reports is nearly two kilometres away from the village of Bmalkah, in the hills above Tartus, where an AFP journalist saw roads filled with shattered glass and shreds of roller doors (archived here and here). The force of blasts had stripped the leaves of olive trees in groves surrounding the village, and smoke still rose from nearby hillsides. The clip has also been debunked by AFP in Arabic.
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Trump congratulates himself on Israel-Iran ceasefire that remains highly uncertain
Not having to follow the rules of consistency offers a lot of flexibility. The message posted by Donald Trump on Monday, June 23, on his Truth Social platform broke all the rules. Shortly after 6 pm, the US president announced, by himself, the conclusion of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. It was the middle of the night in the Middle East. Trump, meanwhile, claimed that both parties to the conflict – and it is legitimate to include the United States – would gradually cease hostilities after final exchanges. "CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!" he exclaimed, as if this were a children's sporting contest where the effort was more important than the result. Meanwhile, massive explosions were heard in Tehran, before Iranian missiles were launched toward Israel, killing at least four people in Beersheba, in the south of the country. But by Tuesday morning, Iran and Israel had both accepted the cease-fire. Exactly 48 hours after the announcement of US bombings on three Iranian nuclear sites (Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordo), Trump outlined the choreography of peace, negotiated via Qatar. Iran would first take the off-ramp, and after 12 hours of ceasefire, Israel would join in, bringing "an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR," as Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, trying to give the war a name for posterity.
