A video clip from a surveillance camera has been circulating on social media, showing a man starting a fire. It’s claimed that the video was recently released by the Israeli occupation police during their arrest of the man who started the Jerusalem fires. The video was accompanied by the following text: “The Israeli occupation police broadcast the arrest of the perpetrator live as he deliberately set the fire.”
Kashif verified the video via Google Image search, Kashif found that it is old and falsely linked to the fires in Jerusalem. The video, which went viral in 2021, shows Italian military police arresting a man who started a fire in the countryside near the town of Montesarchio.
Reuters published the video on its X account on 9/8/2021, with the following description: “A video released by the Italian military police, the Carabinieri, showed a hidden camera recording an arsonist setting fire in the countryside near Montesarchio, a town about 50 kilometers from Naples. The man was later arrested.”
Corriere della Sera channel also posted the video on YouTube on10/8/2021, with the following title: “This is how the man set fire and then fled: caught on camera.”
Israeli media outlets, including the Israeli occupation radio, reported that Israeli police arrested three people suspected of involvement in setting forest fires in Jerusalem. The statement added that “they are being investigated to determine their motives and whether there were criminal or political motives behind the incident.”
On Wednesday, 30/4/2025, fires broke out in forests near Jerusalem, quickly spreading to the outskirts of settlements including Beit Shemesh and Beit Meir, prompting the Israeli authorities to carry out urgent evacuations.
| Sources of Claim | Sources of Verification |
| Mohammad Abuomar Al-Khalil Storm Zoom for News Yasser for all excavations | Reuters Corriere della Sera Al Jazeera Today News Portal |