TikTok “ alihtth1 ” account posted a video of a blazing fire in a building, showing fire trucks working to put it out. The video included the voice of a male and female announcer presenting a text that read: “We stand with some images that have reached the newsroom now, indicating a huge explosion on the two Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. A huge explosion that seems very big. It is not clear at this moment what the motives or responsibility of the explosion might be. According to the information reaching the newsroom only, it is that an explosion occurred and took place in a cafe”.
The clip was accompanied by the following text: “Breaking News: news of the killing of the Israeli Ministers of Finance and Health”.
Kashif verified the video and found that it is old, the audio is manipulated, and the claim is fabricated. The circulating video between 2:24 and 3:33 minutes is from a clip published by “ Carl ” channel on YouTube on 26 July 2024, with the following text: “A house struck by lightning on 25 July 2024 in Sun City Hilton Head in Bluffton, South Carolina”.
When looking for the name that appears on the fire truck, Hardeeville Fire Department, Kashif’s team found the official page of the fire department’s account and found that its location is in the city of Hardeeville in the state of South Carolina in the United States of America, and not in Israel.
The audio clip attached to the video is subject to manipulation. The original audio clip is of Al-Hadath TV presenter Ahmed Fares during his coverage of a cafe explosion in the Somali capital, Mogadishu , where he said: “We stand with some images that have reached the newsroom now, indicating a huge explosion that shook a crowded café in the middle of Mogadishu. So, as we see a huge explosion, the images speak for themselves, indicating height, so the columns of smoke in the sky of the capital, a huge explosion that seems very huge. It is not clear at this moment what motives or responsibility this explosion may have, according to the information that reaches the newsroom successively only that an explosion occurred and took place in a cafe in Mogadishu. Naturally, we will stand on the latest details as soon as they reach us”.
The voice of a female broadcaster was not heard in the coverage, but was inserted into the circulated video.
Al-Hadath had published a video clip of this coverage on its YouTube channel on 15 July 2024, with the following title: “Somalia.. A huge explosion rocks a crowded café in central Mogadishu”.
Kashif’s Israeli affairs team looked into Israeli media and news websites and did not find any mention of the information circulating about the killing of the Israeli Ministers of Finance, Health, and National Security, or about an explosion in a cafe in Israel.
| Sources of claim | Sources of verification |
| alihtth1 alihtth1 Hammoudi Raoudi | Carl Hardeeville Fire Department AlHadath Event Israeli media and websites |
