No, this video of a crowd running wasn’t taken in Israel following Iranian attack

On April 13, Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles toward Israel. The Iranian attack on Saturday marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel. The attack came less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, 

An Israeli military spokesman said 99% of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted. A 10-year-old girl was reportedly injured by shrapnel and one military base was damaged, but no additional damage or injuries were reported.

One video shared repeatedly across social media, garnering millions of views shows a crowd running through the street. Posts accompanying the video claim it shows a panicked crowd in Israel running from Iranian missiles.  

Kurdistan 24, a Kurdish broadcast station based in Iraq, posted the video on Facebook with a caption, written in Kurdish and translated to English, that says, “Israeli citizens fear Iranian missile attacks.”

“ISRAELIS IN FULL PANIC as IRANIAN missiles land in ISRAEL,” the captions on posts shared on X say. Another X post with the video reads, “Footage Reportedly Showing Israelis Panicking After Iranian Attacks Reach Israel.”

THE QUESTION

Does this video show a crowd in Israel fleeing amid Iranian drone and missile attack?

THE SOURCES

• Various videos posted to social media from Louis Tomlinson’s visit to Buenos Aires
• Infobae news report from Louis Tomlinson’s visit to Buenos Aires
• Video posted from the official social media account of Louis Tomlinson
• Google Maps
• InVid and RevEye, footage forensics tools

THE ANSWER

No, the video clip doesn’t show a panicked crowd in Israel amid Iranian drone strikes. It was taken in early April in Buenos Aires, Argentina and shows an excited crowd outside a fan event with pop singer Louis Tomlinson. 

WHAT WE FOUND

The video being shared does not show people in Israel. It was posted to TikTok on April 6 and was taken in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It shows a crowd during a meet-and-greet with pop singer Louis Tomlinson outside the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires.

The caption on the TikTok video includes the hashtags #louistomlinson, #argentina and #buenosaires.

While VERIFY is unable to confirm whether the TikTok video posted on April 6 is the original version of the video, we did find corroborating reports and social media videos from the same event on that day. 

Tomlinson visited Buenos Aires in early April, according to Infobae, an Argentine online newspaper. A video posted by Infobae shows a crowd outside the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires that closely matches what can be seen in the video being shared with claims it was taken in Israel.  Tomlinson was staying at the hotel while visiting the city, the report said.

Another video posted on X shows a different view of the crowd running in Buenos Aires at the Tomlinson meet-and-greet. X user @94tomlinsonn wrote that the video was taken while they were running with the crowd. 

This video and this video also show similar scenes outside the Four Seasons. Tomlinson also posted a video from the Four Seasons in Buenos Aires that shows him walking to meet the crowd. 

VERIFY also used satellite imagery from Google Maps street view to confirm the video was filmed on the street outside the Four Seasons hotel in Buenos Aires. The hotel building seen at the 5-second mark in the viral video being shared with the Israel claims matches Google street view in front of the Four Seasons.

The crowd is running in front of a restaurant called the Sushi Club, located across the road from the Four Seasons. The highways and green space around the hotel match what can be seen in Google Maps.