WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Videos and photos show the 2026 Iran war.
OUR VERDICT
False. The content is unrelated to the war or AI-generated.
AAP FACTCHECK - Another barrage of Middle East war misinformation has struck social media as the US and Israel trade blows with Iran across the region.
Several social media footage and photos claiming to show the conflict are old, unrelated or were generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
Australian-based commentator Maram Susli, also known as Syrian Girl or Partisan Girl, has shared multiple false or misleading posts on X since the conflict began on February 28.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked her claims about damage to the "CIA headquarters in Dubai" and the Burj Khalifa tower.
Ms Susli has shared a new video on X claiming to show cars burning in "Tel Aviv right now".
It has also been shared on Facebook.
The video is real, but it is not recent and was not filmed in Tel Aviv.
A Google Reverse Image reveals that it shows the aftermath of a Hamas rocket attack on the Israeli city of Ashdod in October 2023.
Sky News broadcast the same footage (timestamp 12 seconds) during a report on the strike on October 9, 2023.
Ms Susli claimed another video of rockets lighting up the night sky over a city showed a "new wave" of Iranian missiles striking Tel Aviv.
The video has been shared on Instagram with the same caption.
However, the footage shows an Iranian strike on the city in mid-2025 after Israel bombed the country's nuclear sites.
Portuguese radio network Renascenca published the same clip in a YouTube video on June 16, 2025.
Russia Today, a state-controlled media outlet, also shared the clip on X before clarifying in a reply that it was 2025 footage
Ms Susli posted a third video claiming to show an American boy crying over his father's coffin, while his mother tells him, "Don't cry - stay strong, just like your father".
The same video was earlier posted by the Frontline Faith page on Facebook, which has shared several similar AI-generated clips.
At least 18 feature scenes of children weeping for dead soldier fathers, several show mothers using the identical phrase, "Don't cry - stay strong, just like your father."
The clips also contain visual distortions and errors common in synthetic content.
In the video posted by Ms Susli, the mother has a strange limb-like tentacle hanging in front of her.
An X account called "Afghanistan Defense" posted two images purporting to show handcuffed US troops kneeling with gunmen guarding them and Iranian flags and portraits of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the background.
"The brave Iranian forces have killed and captured a large number of Delta special forces; this news is astonishing," the caption reads.
Another post from the same account features an image purportedly showing masked Iranian fighters parading handcuffed Delta Force soldiers through a compound.
The images have been shared across Facebook, but they're AI fakes.
The stylised star logo of Google's AI chatbot Gemini is visible in the bottom corner of the images, and they contain common AI errors and inconsistencies, such as malformed fingers and unnatural lighting.
A Google Images search also reveals that they contain a hidden digital watermark indicating they were "Made with Google AI."
A further video claims to show hundreds of Israelis dragging bags and trolleys across a field, fleeing their country to escape "Iranian missiles and drones".
However, the clip shows revellers arriving at the Hellfest music festival in Clisson, France, in June 2025.
A festival-goer posted the same footage on TikTok on June 19, 2025
The false claim about the festival video showing Israelis has also been debunked by AFP Fact Check.
Another post by an Australian Facebook account claims an image shows that US missiles hit painted stencils of fighter jets at an Iranian airbase rather than actual aircraft.
"Imagine spending millions of dollars on advanced missiles…just to bomb Iran's outdoor aircraft display," the caption reads.
However, the image also contains an invisible watermark indicating it was "Made with Google AI."
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