Key Takeaways:
- Disinformation surge: Social media is flooded with AI videos, recycled footage, and fabricated claims about the Israel–Iran war.
- Viral hoaxes: False reports about Israeli leaders being killed and Israelis fleeing the country have spread to millions of users.
- Narrative warfare: Claims that Israel is hiding massive damage or that Hezbollah is “winning” illustrate how propaganda shapes online perceptions of the conflict.
As the second week of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran draws to a close, Iran’s military infrastructure appears to be weakening, with fewer missiles and drones being launched at Israel and neighboring countries.
At the same time, the pro-Iran, anti-Israel propaganda machine is working overtime, flooding social media with fabricated claims, AI imagery, and misattributed videos.
From the repeated deaths of Israel’s leadership to claims about Israelis fleeing the country, here are the worst lies and pieces of misinformation that are currently circulating on social media.
Israel & the U.S. Are Bombing Decoys
The Israeli and American air campaign against the Islamic Republic has reportedly struck numerous regime and military targets.
In response, pro-Tehran accounts have circulated the claim that Israel is bombing decoy aircraft painted on tarmacs, supposedly wasting expensive munitions.
One post on X, which garnered 5 million views, claimed that “the Iranians painted a helicopter on the ground and God’s chosen people bombed it. Watch how the blades remain the same after the explosion.” This is a convincing claim unless, as some pointed out in the comments, you understand that the helicopter was hit with a low-intensity projectile meant to disable it without destroying it (thus leaving the majority of it – including the blades – intact).
A similar post by another account, using a video from Israel’s June 2025 war against Iran, claimed that it showed Israel bombing a mural instead of an actual fighter jet.
Even Nassim Nicholas Taleb, an award-winning academic who has a penchant for making absurd claims about Israel, shared a piece of Chinese propaganda alleging that Iran had invested millions of dollars in inflatables that resembled military hardware in order to have the U.S. and Israel waste expensive munitions on nothing.
So, the Iranians painted a helicopter on the ground and God’s chosen people bombed it. Watch how the blades remain the same after the explosion😭😭 https://t.co/WHTVDaMpla
— Sizwe SikaMusi (@SizweLo) March 4, 2026
Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir & Other Israeli Leaders Killed
One piece of fake news that has gone viral since the beginning of the war is that Israeli leaders have been killed in targeted Iranian strikes. Despite repeated debunking, the claim resurfaces regularly, often promoted by accounts seeking to counter reports that Iran’s supreme leader was killed on the first day of the war.
An account on X known as “Ayatollah Alireza Arafi” posted an obvious AI image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being pulled out of the rubble and got eight million views, while former MMA fighter Jake Shields re-posted the claim that Mossad head David Barnea had been killed to his more than 900,000 followers.
Hey @grok this is real? pic.twitter.com/m2AWylfvRH
— Ayatollah Alireza Arafi (@Realarafi) March 11, 2026
On her page, peddler of misinformation Sarah Wilkinson shared a Russia Today interview with disgraced former US Marine and UN official Scott Ritter, where he claimed that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s house was in flames and Netanyahu’s brother had been killed in a strike on the Netanyahu home (as if all Netanyahus live in one family compound).
The rumor about Netanyahu’s brother, Iddo Netanyahu, took an even stranger turn when users circulated videos supposedly showing fires at the Netanyahu home. In reality, the footage came from unrelated incidents, including a house fire in New Jersey and, in one particularly bizarre case, footage of the World Trade Center on September 11.
Well, reusing one of the most infamous events in recent history that were filmed to spread fake news is truly a new one, even for me. https://t.co/HFSJkD4oni
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) March 9, 2026
Israelis Are Scared and Fleeing the Country
A classic false claim that arises every time Israel experiences a war (which, unfortunately, has been often over the past several years) is that Israelis are scared and fleeing the country en masse for Europe and North America.
Unfortunately, this war is no exception, and bad-faith actors are once again peddling this baseless claim (each in their own special way). This claim is especially ludicrous, seeing as thousands of Israelis have been flown back to Israel in recent days on special flights.
An X page called “The Saviour” simply posted the check-in line from Ben Gurion Airport with the caption “Due to Iranian missile attacks, Israeli settlers are fleeing Israel via Ben Gurion Airport,” while “Parody Jeff” shared an image of religious Jews in an airport with the caption “Jews are fleeing Israel in record numbers. Ben Gurion airport is collapsing. They are all coming back to Europe.”
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Jews are fleeing Israel in record numbers.
Ben Gurion airport is collapsing.
They are all coming back to Europe. pic.twitter.com/6DmZz5kjnv
— Parody Jeff (@Parodyjeffx) March 7, 2026
When it comes to claims that Israelis are terrified by the Iranian strikes, Jake Shields shared footage from a June 2025 scuffle in Georgia, claiming that it was Israelis (or, as he put it, “rats”) freaking out due to an Iranian missile attack.
Similarly, Russian political philosopher Alexander Dugin shared an AI video of Israelis running scared in an airport while it was being bombed. The clue that it was AI? One obvious clue that the footage was artificial: a rolling suitcase moving without anyone holding it. I guess even renowned philosophers can overlook such discrepancies if it means they can make fun of Israelis.
Perhaps one of the strangest posts claiming that Israelis were fleeing the country was a video showing swarms of people on a hilly terrain, along with the text “Israel right now. People are running away from their homes.” The truth behind this video? It shows people in Nepal collecting a valuable medicinal fungus.
ایران نے وارننگ جاری کی تھی کہ ہم نے اسرائیل کے تمام ڈیفینسو رڈار ختم کر دیے ہیں اسرائیلی جان بچا کے جانا چاہتے ہیں تو چلے جائیں ورنہ اپ نہیں بچیں گے تو اسرائیلی اپنا علاقہ چھوڑ کے جا رہے ہیں
pic.twitter.com/OuRHrkWaXK— Sara Mir (@SaraMirGilgity) March 8, 2026
Israel is Battered & Hiding the Damage
Due to the sensitive nature of the war, the Israeli military has tightened regulations about what images and videos can be released to the public, all in an effort to curb Iranian intelligence-gathering on where their missiles are landing. However, under these regulations, images of the damage caused by missile strikes are still being released, just without too many clues about the precise location. This is normal practice during times of war, when information can be a valuable asset to the enemy.
Nevertheless, some commentators have claimed that Israel is hiding massive destruction and casualties. Like all the other claims on this list, this one is also nonsense. However, this hasn’t stopped it from being spread.
For example, independent “journalist” Jonathan Cook posted on X that “Israeli military censors have imposed a news blackout – presumably because Israel is suffering far graver damage from Iranian missiles than it wants to let on.”
Similarly, anti-Israel blowhard Cenk Uygur claimed in a post that “Israel is getting hit pretty badly right now. They’re not talking about it since they don’t want anyone thinking the war is going poorly.”
Israel is getting hit pretty badly right now. They’re not talking about it since they don’t want anyone thinking the war is going poorly. But soon they’ll switch to victim mode. You’ll see all over your TV, “Poor, poor Israel is being attacked by evil Iran.” Um, they started it.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) March 11, 2026
Anti-Israel account Kate Emerson (who includes Hamas’ violent red triangle in her X name) also echoed these posts when she posted that “Things are much, much worse in Israel than the Western media is letting on. I have family in Tel Aviv & they know people all over the country & it’s BAD. Many more dead than we are being told & terrible damage. The Iron Dome has fallen, make no mistake.”
In a master class of debunking this absurd allegation about Israeli censorship, Israeli analyst Tal Hagin responded to a recent claim that Israel was hiding the damage from a recent Hezbollah strike on northern Israel by showing how Israeli media outlets published photos showcasing the damage and disproving the original claim.
While the claim has been disproven (and the original post even taken down), this surely won’t stop bad actors from falsely claiming that Israel is hiding massive damage.
Israeli media (@ynetnews) showed you 5 different angles of this strike on their website.
Not very hidden. https://t.co/hTa47Q4fvo pic.twitter.com/0C2EVLqAP7
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) March 12, 2026
Hezbollah is Victorious
Misinformation has not been limited to Iran. Following Hezbollah’s entry into the war with its attacks on northern Israel, there is now misinformation spreading about the Lebanese terror group’s victories against Israel.
This includes the absurd claims that Hezbollah has taken over northern Israel and killed almost 100 IDF soldiers, that Hezbollah captured Israeli troops after knocking down a special forces helicopter, or even that the group is “unbeatable” and “the most elite special force in the world.”
JUST IN🇮🇷🇱🇧❌🇮🇱🔥 Lebanese Army and Hezbollah have captured multiple towns including Zarit in northern Israel and liberated it from Illegal IDF occupation forces during Iranian missiles strikes across Israel.
🚨Unconfirmed reports, more than 93 Israeli soldiers have lost their… pic.twitter.com/rBG4bs4uCo
— RKM (@rkmtimes) March 11, 2026
Even the most easily debunked claims can generate millions of views and shape perceptions among audiences who encounter them without context.
For that reason, misinformation like this will likely continue to spread throughout the war — regardless of how often it is disproven.
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