The tensions are on rise between Israel and lebonon. Amidst the tensions , a picture of a plane landing with massive fire and smoke smoldering all around is making rounds on social media. In the middle of the Israel-Lebanon conflict, the image is being claimed from Beirut.
This post by Sulaiman Ahmed has ganered 322.7k views at the time of writing this article. Sharing this image, he wrote,” A Photo for History Books, MEA Airline landing in Beirut International airport as Israeli rains fire on the airport”.
Multiple other users were found sharing the image which you can view here, here and here.
Fact Check
DFRAC team investigated the viral claim and image. We investigated and found the image to be AI generated.
We reverse searched the image and found it posted on an instagram account Eyesoflebanon with caption and disclaimer,”Heavy attacks around the airport of Beirut (pictures generated using Ai depicting the real situation)”
Along with this image, aother AI generated image has been shared by the user depicting same incident.
On close inspection as well we found discrepancies in the plane’s empennage (tail of the plane) showing abrupt edited part. The image below shows how the discrepencies is identified by DFRAC Team.
We also ran the image through AI image detection tools like WasItAI_ and IlluminartyAi. The results showed the image being artifically created.
What’s in News
Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late on Sunday with multiple explosions heard across the Lebanese capital, as Israel prepared to attack sites linked to the financial operations of the group, asking people to leave those areas immediately. Over the past two days, the Israeli military has attacked Hezbollah’s arms facilities in southern Beirut, its intelligence headquarters, and an underground workshop for the production of weapons.
Conclusion
Thus the viral image claiming to be from Beirut amidst lebanon-Israel crisis is AI generated.
