Fact-Checking | Fake Videos About Israel's Iron Beam Activation

The Poligraf website, a fact-checking project of Voice of America, examined claims by social media users regarding the activation of Israel's air defense with the 'Iron Beam' system, coinciding with the bombing of a hospital in Gaza and escalating tensions in the region. According to the report published yesterday, one of the videos, previously posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), shows images from a video game called 'Arma 3' and urges viewers not to confuse it with Israel's Iron Beam. Another video circulating on Telegram, TikTok, X, and YouTube shows the interception of missiles over Tel Aviv. The original source of this video, a Telegram channel called 'Live News Gina Zab' with nearly 36,000 subscribers in Russian and Ukrainian, claimed on October 16 that this video demonstrates the use of Israel's latest defense system. The post from October 16 stated that the video shows the activation of Israel's newest laser air defense system, which is false. In the Poligraf review, some social media users noticed a 'diagonal light beam' that flickered across the screen during the interception. It appeared that the beam passed through two bright points in the sky. However, Iron Beam interceptions are silent and invisible. Like Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, the Iron Beam system was also developed by the Israeli state-owned company 'Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.' The Iron Beam uses a 100-kilowatt fiber laser mounted on a rotating platform that can strike targets up to 7 kilometers away. In contrast, Iron Dome interceptor missiles can track objects up to 70 kilometers away. While an interceptor missile destroys a target upon impact, a laser must be held on the target for several seconds. The Iron Beam is expected to complement the Iron Dome and other elements of Israel's air defense rather than replace them. The Iron Beam also has its advantages; it can be integrated with various systems and bases and is expected to limit collateral damage. Additionally, the use of the Iron Beam laser is much cheaper than Iron Dome missiles, each costing tens of thousands of dollars. Naftali Bennett, former Prime Minister of Israel, stated in April 2022 that Iron Beam interceptions are silent, invisible, and each piece costs only $3.50. While sci-fi films depict laser weapons with distinct sound and visual effects, most laser beams used in defense applications are not visible to the naked eye. The Iron Beam is also not visible during the day or night. An Iron Beam promotional video released in October 2022 briefly showed a visible beam, but this was a visual effect added during film editing. 'Aurora Intel,' an open-source intelligence account on X focusing on Israeli military displays, wrote to Poligraf that 'the beams are only a visual factor; otherwise, the clip essentially shows nothing, but the Iron Beam itself is not visible to the naked eye.' This promotional video included images showing the Iron Beam targeting a drone, a mortar, and a missile. Those objects are destroyed without the laser beam being visible. Another open-source inspector on X stated that the video posted by 'Live News Gina Zab' is credible but actually shows 'Tamir missiles' fired from Israel's Iron Dome air defense system intercepting Qassam rockets launched by Hamas's military wing. 'Aurora Intel' also explained that the visible light flash during interception is due to lens flare. Lens flare occurs when light from a bright source hits the camera lens, causing starbursts or, in this case, a very long diffraction spike (a line emanating from a bright source) to be visible in photos and videos. Tyler Rogoway, editor of 'The War Zone,' described the light as 'light from a Tamir explosion.' In a video that apparently shows the same interception from a different angle, a much smaller starburst effect is visible at the impact points. A long light beam is not visible in that. Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, Israel announced that it could deploy the Iron Beam years ahead of schedule. However, there has been no evidence of Israel using the Iron Beam in the current conflict.