"The Huthi fighters bring justice, avenging the Palestinians," reads the caption of a Thai-language Facebook post published March 20, 2025.
The caption continues: "This video shows people in Tel Aviv, Israel fleeing for their lives after a Huthi missile strike."
The 31-second clip depicts panicked crowds running along a street at night.
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Screenshot of the false Facebook post taken March 21, 2025
The same video spread alongside similar claims in Thai, Italian, Hindi and Arabic. A screenshot of the footage also appeared in some English-language news reports.
The posts and articles emerged online after Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed they had targeted Israel’s main airport with a "hypersonic ballistic missile" on March 18.
Israel’s military said March 19 that it had intercepted a missile from Yemen before it entered Israeli airspace (archived link).
The strike came amid renewed fighting in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians weeks after the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas (archived links here and here).
The escalation has also extended to tensions between the Huthis and the United States, with President Donald Trump ordering air strikes on rebel-controlled areas in Yemen, killing 31 people (archived link).
However, the online video predates the Huthis' recent strike on Israel by nearly three years.
A reverse image search using the video's keyframes found a matching clip published by Channel 13, an Israeli television channel, on April 7, 2022 (archived link).
Its Hebrew-language headline reads: "Attack in the heart of Tel Aviv: two were murdered, house-to-house searches for the escaped terrorist."
AFP found the same clip published by CBS News on April 8, 2022 (archived link).
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Screenshot comparison between the false Facebook post (L) and the CBS News report
Israeli authorities said a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Dizengoff Street, a nightlife hub filled with bars and restaurants, killing two people and wounding several others. The gunman was killed in a shootout with Israeli forces (archived link).
Another victim succumbed to his injuries a day later, according to then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (archived link).
AFP also distributed videos showing Israeli security forces deployed across the city in response to the attack.
AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here.