Photo shows Israeli helicopter firing flares over Gaza, not ‘shot down in Lebanon’

[Pelican Press 0]

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Photo shows ******** helicopter ******* flares over Gaza, not ‘shot down in Lebanon’

After fierce clashes between Hezbollah fighters and ******** troops in southern Lebanon in November 2024, a photo was shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed an ******** military helicopter that had been shot down. The photo in fact shows a helicopter releasing flares over Gaza and was taken by an AFP photographer in March 2019.

“Lebanon shot down its ******’s helicopter,” read a Thai-language

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shared on November 24, 2024.

The post shared a link to an article on Thai social media platform Blockdit, with a preview thumbnail showing a helicopter in mid-air surrounded by smoke.

“******** helicopter downed by Lebanon, scattering the ******** of soldiers (onboard),” read the article’s headline.

The article claimed that, according to local media, an ******** military chopper had been shot down by an anti-aircraft system near Khiam, a town in southern Lebanon around six kilometres (nearly four miles) from the border.

Screenshot of the false

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post, captured on November 28, 2024" loading="lazy" width="700" height="565" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="rounded-lg" style="******:transparent" fifu-data-src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ClOFwq9s6ovjSlzzrIRoCQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTc3NQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/afp_factcheck_us_713/e26a3b9b56b03b087fa0dd3ae4a71c47">

Screenshot of the false

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post, captured on November 28, 2024

The post circulated after

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between Hezbollah fighters and ******** troops near Khiam, with Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reporting an intense air and artillery bombardment of the town (

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).

All-out war erupted in September after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of ***** initiated by Hezbollah in support of ******, following its ************ ally’s October 7, 2023 ******* that sparked the Gaza war.

******* and Lebanon agreed to a US- and French-brokered truce that began at dawn on November 27, 2024. The

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has reduced the level of fighting, but ******* has hit Hezbollah targets it says were violating the truce (

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).

The *******-Hezbollah war ******* at least 3,961 people in Lebanon, according to the health ministry in Beirut, most of them after ******* stepped up its ******** campaign in September. On the ******** side, the hostilities ******* at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities said.

Similar posts making the same claim were also shared elsewhere in 

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, as well as in 

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and 

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.

The photo, however, does not show a helicopter that was shot down over Khiam.

Flares over Gaza

A reverse image search on

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led to the same photo used in a report published by

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newspaper on May 20, 2019 (

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).

The photo is credited to AFP photographer Mohammed Abed, and its caption read: “An ******** helicopter shoots flares over the Gaza Strip hours after a rocket from the ************ enclave hit a house near Tel Aviv and wounded seven people, leading to fears of a severe escalation, on March 25, 2019.”

Below is a screenshot comparison between the falsely shared photo (left) and the same photo used in The Times of ******* report (right):

Screenshot comparison between the falsely shared photo (left) and the same photo used in The Times of ******* report (right)

The photo can also be found in

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.

******* launched 

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in the ******-controlled Gaza Strip in response to rocket ***** that landed near Tel Aviv, injuring seven Israelis, on March 25, 2019 (

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).

******* said it had

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****** fired the rocket (

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). A ****** official denied it was deliberate and suggested it could have been a technical malfunction caused by a storm that hit the region.

In response ******* struck dozens of ****** targets in Gaza, including flattening the office of ****** chief Ismail Haniya. Seven people were wounded.

AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the Middle East conflict 

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.

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#Photo #shows #******** #helicopter #******* #flares #Gaza #shot #Lebanon

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