Barran Press
A video circulating among Houthi supporters, claiming to show the moment their missiles hit the Israeli port of Eilat on the Red Sea, has been debunked by the international news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP).
On Sunday, July 21, 2024, the Houthi group, internationally designated as a terrorist organization, claimed to have launched ballistic missiles towards the Israeli city of Eilat on the Red Sea. The Israeli military reported intercepting a missile "approaching Israel."
AFP's fact-checking service determined that the video was "actually filmed on the southwestern coast of Turkey, with special effects added to make it appear as if burning objects are hitting the ground and exploding."
The agency's investigation revealed that the video, filmed from a distance, shows a beach with dozens or hundreds of people, with high mountains and steep terrain behind it. It then shows what appear to be flying objects coming from the sea and crashing, causing violent explosions.
According to AFP, the accompanying comments from Houthi activists included "documentation of the arrival of Yemen's gifts to Eilat." The agency noted that "this same video has appeared several times in recent months, starting at least in February 2024, coinciding with the intensification of operations carried out by the Houthis, particularly against ships in the Red Sea."
AFP emphasized that "the video was not filmed in Eilat but in southwestern Turkey, and the missiles shown in it are fabricated." They added that "searching for static scenes from the video on search engines leads to similar images in terms of the shape of the beach and the mountainous terrain visible behind it."
The agency stated that "the search also leads to a similar video posted on a photo and video storage website, but it lacks the missiles that appear in the circulating video."
According to AFP, the publishing sites, most of which are tourism or photo sales sites, captured these scenes in the Konyaalti region of Antalya in southwestern Turkey. They explained that a search on YouTube for "Konyaalti Beach" revealed many videos taken by beachgoers or tourists there, both from the ground and from the air.
The flying objects shown in the video are "fabricated." A search for the edited video led to a YouTube channel that publishes videos of this nature. Its owner stated that he is a film editing enthusiast and had published this edited video under the title "Meteorite Impact," according to AFP.