Fact-Check | Old Video Released as Current Footage of Ongoing Israel-Hamas War

The Poligraph website, a fact-checking project of Voice of America, has examined the accuracy of another viral post regarding the war between Israel and Hamas and the potential involvement of Hezbollah. The report states that over a month into the Israel-Hamas conflict, a lingering question remains: to what extent will Hezbollah of Lebanon - the Shiite political party supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran - engage in this conflict? The United States, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, immediately deployed two aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean Sea and warned Iran and Hezbollah to stay away from the conflict. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, also stated that his militia group, which possesses anti-ship weapons, is 'well prepared [to confront] your fleets.' Nasrallah's remarks have fueled speculation and misinformation on social media. 'Neksta,' a Belarusian media outlet based in Poland with over a million followers, published a post showing part of Hezbollah's missile arsenal. Neksta captioned the post: 'After media reported the arrival of U.S. warships in the Mediterranean, Hezbollah released a video showing its anti-ship missiles.' However, Poligraph indicates that this explanation is misleading. This footage was first released by Hezbollah in 2019 and is unrelated to the recent conflict. In part of the explanation of this post, published in September 2019 on X (formerly Twitter), it states: 'Hezbollah showcased a missile capable of sinking any warship... This is the same missile that struck the Israeli ship INS Hanit during the 2006 war...' Despite one user pointing out the footage's age, 'Neksta' has maintained the post, which has garnered over 750,000 views. The Indian media organization 'Boom' confirmed the user's note about the footage's age, stating it is from 2019 and 'shows how this Lebanese political party and the Hezbollah militia attacked Israeli ships during the 2006 war.' Hezbollah, whose military wing is more powerful than the Lebanese army, has so far limited its operations in the recent conflict to cross-border attacks against Israel. Although the group has a significant missile arsenal, what is seen in the posts shared by 'Neksta' and others is not new. According to the 'Missile Defense Project' launched by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Hezbollah attacked the Israeli ship Hanit with a C-802 medium-range cruise missile in 2006. Investigations revealed that this vessel, which had self-defense capabilities against such missiles, failed to do so due to intelligence failures. The crew of this ship, who did not believe Iran possessed such weapons, had disabled the 'Barak' missile defense system, which was capable of intercepting C-802 missiles. China first unveiled the C-802 missile in 1989. Iran purchased several dozen of these missiles from China in the 1990s. According to the 'Defense Weapons Project,' Iran has developed its version of the C-802 missile, named 'Noor,' and supplied it to Hezbollah. Hezbollah also possesses the Russian Yakhont anti-ship missile, which can be launched from air, land, or underwater. The two U.S. aircraft carrier groups stationed in the Mediterranean are equipped with layered defense against such threats, including destroyers equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system. Last month, one of these destroyers, the USS Carney, intercepted missiles and drones launched from Yemen. As Poligraph has previously emphasized, the use of old footage has become a specific tactic in misinformation regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict. These efforts include using videos from the Syrian war, Indian Navy missile tests, militant activities in the Philippines, training sessions on Islamic burial rites, etc., which have been shared as footage from the Israel-Hamas war.