Dated AI video used to falsely claim Iran struck Israeli airport
On Aug. 9, an X account named “Iran Mil Updates” posted a video, claiming it shows Iran bombed the Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international airport near Tel Aviv.
The X account describes itself as providing “real-time coverage of Iran’s military activities, defence technology, strategic movements, and regional security developments.”
The post gained over 2,200 likes, 600 reposts, and 80 replies. Similar claims using the same video also appeared in Russian and Arabic.
However, the claim is false.
Annie Lab found no official reports that Iran recently struck Ben Gurion Airport. The video also appears likely to have been generated using AI models. It contains visual inconsistencies in the airport infrastructure and in the clothing worn by people depicted as workers.
Also, the earliest version of the video we found was posted on Facebook on March 8, ten days before three private jets at the airport were severely damaged by debris from Iranian missiles intercepted by Israel’s air defense system, according to Reuters.
Video analysis
The video comprises five clips that allegedly show an Iranian attack on the airport.
First clip (from 0:00 to 0:09)
The first clip shows an airport apron being bombed.
A streetlight pole in the viral video is plain grey. By contrast, photos available on Google Maps and Getty Images show red-and-white poles at Ben Gurion Airport.
The design of the streetlights is also different.
At the 0:06 mark, an airbridge is visible as the first explosion appears in the distance, suggesting the footage was filmed near the terminal.
The camera then pans to another explosion at 0:09, showing what appears to be a patch of grass outside the terminal. However, Annie Lab found no comparable grass patches around the terminal in Google Maps satellite imagery.
Second clip (from 0:09 to 0:17)
The second clip shows several people, some wearing reflective safety vests, running on airport grounds as a fire burns in the distance.
From 0:10 to 0:13, the footage shows a parked truck near single-story buildings.
At 0:13, the light fixture appears detached from the pole next to a building and seems to unnaturally extend, or bleed, downward.
There is also a cut at 0:14, although the video continues to depict what appears to be the same area.
From 0:15 to 0:16, the camera pans back to a small building on the left (highlighted in yellow). The building, however, is not present a few seconds earlier, despite the person holding the camera seeming to run forward.
The truck visible at the beginning of this clip also disappears at 0:15 (highlighted in blue).
Third through fifth clips (from 0:17 to 0:29)
The other three clips appear to show airport workers and civilians evacuating through an indoor corridor.
A worker appears to first pull and then push a door, although it should not open in both directions because it has a device that looks like an overhead door closer or damper.
There is a large gap (highlighted in blue) between the right side of the door and the frame as it moves. The door appears substantially smaller than the doorframe.
Workers’ clothing
The video also contains apparent inconsistencies in the workers’ clothing.
In the corridor scene, a ground staff member wears a yellow safety vest and a dark beanie.
At 0:19, the same person is wearing shorts and a watch on his right wrist.
Three seconds later, he appears to be wearing tights underneath the shorts, while the watch and his wrist are visibly distorted.
The back of the vest in the footage bears the word “FLORA” in capital letters. Annie Lab was unable to find any connection between that name and airport services companies or airport operations.
Ben Gurion Airport (archived here) officially licenses three ground services companies: QAS, Aero Handling and Laufer Aviation-GHI.
Their uniforms generally include neon-yellow vests, with slight variations in design and different logos identifying their respective company.
Their uniforms can be found on their company’s Instagram page (here and here) and website.
The vest shown in the viral video does not resemble those examples, although Annie Lab cannot rule out the possibility that airport workers use other uniform variations.
The Ben Gurion Airport website is accessible only from Israeli or U.S. IP addresses. We have linked to an archived version of the site on the Wayback Machine for reference.
