Videos of red flares in sky amid Iranian attack on Israel actually show Algerian football fan celebrations
Footage shows a flare incident as Algerian football fans celebrated the foundation of their club
CLAIM
Videos widely posted across social media in October 2024 purported to show red lights in the sky amid an Iranian attack on Israel.
BACKGROUND
A video was shared widely by dozens of accounts across several social media platforms in October 2024, with captions describing it as showing an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv and more generally in Israel.
The footage popped up on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
This version, posted to Instagram by @infinite_islaam on October 1, was captioned “IRAN ATTACK ON ISR*EL”.
On Facebook, a user also posted the video on October 1 with a caption reading: “The Hell Iran Has created for Tel Aviv”
The video was also widely shared on YouTube. On October 2, this version was posted with a title simply reading: “#telaviv”. On October 2, the video was again posted, with the title: “It is claimed that the Nevatim Air base in Israel was completely destroyed.”
The footage appeared on YouTube again on October 10, posted with the title: “Power of Iran”. On October 17, the footage was published with the title: “Inside the spectacular night of the ballistic missiles Iran launched on Tel Aviv, Israel”. That version racked up nearly 14,000 views.
Some of the videos featured onscreen text and voiceovers relating to the current conflict in the Middle East.
All the videos posted appeared to be in reference to the Iranian missile strike on Israel on the evening of October 1, 2024. The Israeli military said most of the missiles were intercepted, and Israeli officials vowed to respond to the attack.
METHOD
The last YouTube video mentioned above bore a TikTok watermark and username on screen, appearing to be a reshare.
We followed it over to TikTok, where we were able to see it had been uploaded by the account @al_share on August 11, and had close to 3 million views.
There was no caption with the clip, but the comments featured many mentions of Israel. The clip was marked on the platform: “Creator labeled as AI-generated”.
The date of upload confirmed that the video was unrelated to the Iranian attack on Israel of October 1, but we still wanted to find out the context of the video.
Staying on TikTok, we were able to find this clip from August 2023, described as showing anniversary celebrations for the Algerian football club, Mouloudia Club d’Alger, in Algiers.
Several frames in this footage match those seen in the other versions posted in October 2024, some of which used a combination of clips gathered from various sources showing the football fan celebration.
Each year on August 7, fans celebrate the foundation of the club, often firing red flares into the sky. In 2024, fans celebrated around the world, with red flares seen in the sky over London and Dublin, as well as other European cities — as confirmed by the club here and seen in eyewitness footage and news reports in the UK and Ireland in August.
From this analysis, we can confirm the incident has no connection to the Iranian strikes on Israel in October 2024.
RATING
The incident has no connection to the Iranian missile attack on Israel in October 2024, and instead shows a flare incident as Algerian football fans celebrated the foundation of their club.
SOURCES
Instagram. (2020). حضرتِ انسان on Instagram: ‘@infinite_islaam . . . . #IStandWithIran #istandwithpalestine #istand #iran #irán #iranattack #iranattackisrael #israel #jeruselam #palestine #falasteen #breaking #breakingnews🚨 #viral #viralvideos #viralreels #trending #trending #trendy #reels #reelsinstagram #reelsinsta #reelspakistan #war #ww #wwcommunity #wwe #infinite #infinite_islaam #islam #i̇slam’. [online] [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
Facebook.com. (2023). Okechukwu Ụzọ – The Hell Iran Has created for Tel Aviv 😎. [online] [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
YouTube.com (2024). #telaviv. [online] YouTube. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
YouTube.com (2024). It is claimed that the Nevatim Air base in Israel was completely destroyed. [online] YouTube. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
YouTube.com (2024). Power of Iran 🇮🇷 💪. [online] YouTube. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
YouTube.com (2024). Inside the spectacular night of the ballistic missiles Iran launched on Tel Aviv, Israel|#shorts. [online] YouTube. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
Gritten, D., Murphy M., Jackson P. (2024). What we know about Iran’s latest missile attack on Israel. [online] 3 Oct. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
Tiktok.com. (2024). TikTok – Make Your Day. [online] Available at: [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
مولودية الجزائر (2024). أنصار المولودية يلهبون الأجواء في إحتفالات ذكرى التأسيس. [online] Mca.dz. Available here. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
Cook, V. (2024). Shakespeare’s Globe show abandoned after flare falls into theatre. [online] 8 Aug. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].
Muiris O’Cearbhaill (2024). Did you see dozens of flares in Dublin last night? It was Algerian football fans. [online] TheJournal.ie. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2024].