After Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel on October 1, 2024, footage of fireworks exploding in Algeria was viewed thousands of times in posts claiming it showed the attack on the Israeli commercial hub of Tel Aviv. The original footage — uploaded months before the missile strikes — shows Algerian fans celebrating the anniversary of football club MC Alger.
The video was shared on Facebook on October 2, 2024 alongside a Bengali-language caption that read: “Iran’s hypersonic missile attack turned Tel Aviv’s sky red.”
The Hebrew-language text superimposed on the clip says it shows Iran’s attack on Israel on October 1.
The footage, filmed partially from inside a vehicle on a highway, shows a night sky illuminated by red flares. It then cuts to a wider shot of a similar scene showing a large boat docked on the water next to the highway. The same scene is then repeated but in a mirrored perspective.
The false claim surfaced after Iran launched an attack against Israel on October 1 in what it said was a response to the killings of Iran-backed militant leaders (archived link).
Iran-backed Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures, which include hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,438 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN has described as reliable.
Of the 251 people abducted that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, and 34 have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
The video was also shared here and here on Facebook with the same false claim.
However, the video was taken in Algeria during a celebration by fans of the football club MC Alger in the capital Algiers.
Celebratory fireworks
Reverse image searches found the first part of the was uploaded on August 8, 2023 on TikTok with hashtags related to the club — including “mouloudia_1921” and “MouloudiaAlger” — over a year before Iran’s attack on Israel in October (archived link).
The second part of the footage was uploaded on August 24, 2024 on an Algeria-based YouTube channel — also before the attack — saying it showed fireworks marking the club’s 103rd anniversary (archived link).
“The night sky was illuminated by a dazzling display of fireworks, celebrating over a century of the club’s rich history and achievements,” its description read. “Fans gathered to witness the spectacle, with vibrant colours and synchronised explosions creating a festive atmosphere.”
Below is a comparison between the false posts (left) and the original YouTube video (right):
The club also published footage showing a similar scene on its official Facebook page on August 8 to mark its anniversary (archived link).
Keyword searches found similar footage here and here in media reports showing celebrations of the Algerian club’s anniversary (archived here and here).
The footage in the false posts generally corresponds with Google Street View imagery of a road near the ferry terminal in the capital Algiers (archived link).
AFP previously debunked another false claim related to the club’s anniversary celebration.
