Video linked to Israel-Hamas conflict was filmed in San Diego
The video was captured by a webcam in November 2022
CLAIM
A video posted to Facebook purported to show a US ship carrying F-16 fighter jets reaching Israel’s west coast amid the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict.
RATING
The claim is false. The video was filmed in San Diego, California, in November of 2022.
BACKGROUND
A video shared on Facebook on October 9 purported to show the USS Washington, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, reaching Israel with five F-16 fighter jets on board.
A caption accompanying the video read, “A US ship carrying F-16 fighter jets has reached Israel’s west coast. America is defending Israel.”
The video was also shared on X, Formerly known as Twitter, with the same caption.
METHOD
Using a reverse image search, the Eurovision Social Newswire team was brought to tweet on the X account San Diego Web Cam, an account which provides live streaming webcam views of downtown San Diego & the bay from multiple cameras.
The tweet, which contains a video, shows a near miss between the USS Momsen (DDG-92) & USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) in San Diego Bay on November 29, 2022.
The San Diego Tribune also reported on the video on November 30, 2022.
The video is an exact match for the video purporting to show the USS Washington reaching Israel on October 9.
From this, we can conclude that the content was filmed in San Diego and is not related to the Israel-Hamas conflict
RATING
The content was filmed in San Diego, California, on November 29, 2022, and is not related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
SOURCES
Dyer, A. (2022). Near-miss incident between two warships in San Diego Bay under investigation, Navy says. [online] San Diego Union-Tribune. Available at: here [Accessed 16 Oct. 2023].
Facebook.com. (2023). A US ship carrying F-16 fighter jets has reached Israel’s west coast. America is defending Israel. [online] Available here [Accessed 15 Oct. 2023].
Web, D. (2022). Warship Chicken in San Diego Bay USS Momsen (DDG-92) & USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49). YouTube. Available here [Accessed 15 Oct. 2023].
X (formerly Twitter). (2023). Big News: A US ship carrying F-16 fighter jets has reached Israel’s west coast. America is defending Israel. Available here [Accessed 16 Oct. 2023].
X (formerly Twitter). (2023). Warship Chicken in San Diego Bay USS Momsen (DDG-92) & USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49), Available here [Accessed 16 Oct. 2023].