A catastrophic fire erupted at the Ashkelon power plant in Israel after being hit by a Huthi missile attack with a ballistic missile of the type Palestine 2, as reported in a post dated December 25, 2024, written in Thai. The accompanying 12-second video depicted the immense facility engulfed in flames during the night. The video circulated online amid claims from Yemen’s Huthi rebels, who asserted responsibility for firing a ballistic missile and two drones towards Israel, following an earlier attack in Tel Aviv that left 16 individuals injured.
Israel’s military stated that they successfully intercepted the missile, with one drone reportedly landing in an open area subsequent to sirens sounding in the southern region of the country, close to the Gaza Strip. A statement from the Huthi military emphasized that “The UAV (drone) force of the Yemeni Armed Forces conducted two military operations,” targeting the bustling commercial center of Tel Aviv and the southern city of Ashkelon in Israel.
The missile was also intended for the Tel Aviv area, as previously announced by the Huthis. The Israelis confirmed that it was intercepted before breaching Israeli airspace. According to a Huthi military statement, the attack was executed “utilizing a hypersonic ballistic missile, type Palestine 2.” The Huthis have been launching a series of missiles and drones towards Israel since the eruption of conflict in Gaza in October the previous year, citing solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
The video was also shared alongside similarly misleading claims in posts composed in English, Indonesian, Spanish, and Arabic languages. Nonetheless, a reverse search using keyframes from the video revealed an earlier posting on YouTube by Al Arabiya, a news channel owned by Saudi Arabia, on March 26, 2022, which detailed a fire at a facility owned by Saudi oil giant Aramco in the coastal city of Jeddah.
A Yemeni rebel attack triggered the significant blaze near Jeddah’s Formula One circuit, forming part of a series of assaults on Aramco installations, as reported by AFP at the time. Smoke billowed near the circuit in the aftermath of the attack, which was one of 16 drone and missile strikes carried out by rebels backed by Iran around the kingdom. These attacks occurred in the lead-up to the seventh anniversary of the military intervention by a Saudi-led coalition against the rebels in Yemen.
AFP also disseminated images and videos of the fire incident. The conflict in the Middle East has been a breeding ground for misinformation, with numerous false claims debunked by AFP over time.
