A 2012 video showing a violent demonstration at Sitra police station in Bahrain was incorrectly captioned as showing the attack on the Israeli embassy in the Gulf country in October 2023.
Anti-Israel protests erupted across the Middle East on Wednesday after the Palestinian Authority said hundreds of people were killed in an explosion at al-Ahly al-Arabi hospital in the Gaza Strip late Tuesday.
The video, which shows a crowd setting fire to a building at night, was shared in a Facebook post that read, “Breaking news: The Israeli embassy in Bahrain has just been set on fire!” Islamic terrorists are currently throwing petrol bombs at the embassy. ” Clip too circulated on Messaging Platform X (formerly Twitter).
Reuters tracked the footage to a 2012 YouTube video. The title of the video, translated from Arabic, is “Bahrain: Police station besieged and set on fire – Sitra” and the caption shows protesters attacking Sitra police station in November 2012. It is written that it is reflected.
According to a United Press International report published on November 5, 2012, a group of young people were seen throwing petrol bombs at a police station.
The vertical structures visible inside the police station premises and the fence around the station at 0:01 in the online video match the satellite image of the Sitra Police Station seen on Google Maps.
Israeli officials told Reuters there were protests in front of Bahrain’s embassy this week, but the building was not set on fire. The official also added that the claim that the video shows the Israeli embassy in Bahrain is not true.
Dozens of protesters marched toward the Israeli embassy in Bahrain after the attack on the hospital, France 24 reported, citing witnesses to AFP.
verdict
The caption is incorrect. This video shows the attack on Sitra Police Station in Bahrain in 2012.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Learn more about our fact-checking work.
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