A video of a firework exploding in a person's hand as the crowd around him starts to disperse is being shared on the internet as recent visuals from Turkey.
What have users claimed?: X (formerly Twitter) premium user MeghUpdates shared the video with a caption that said, "Hamas supporters in Turkey wanted to attack the Isreal consulate in Istanbul with fireworks but ..... enjoy (sic)."
We received a query about the video on our WhatsApp tipline too. (Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
What's the context?: According to a recent report, the police prevented pro-Palestine supporters from storming the Israeli consulate in Turkey's Istanbul. The incident left more than 60 people injured.
Are these claims true?: No, while the video is from Turkey, it dates back to May of this year.
The video reportedly showed a firework accident during celebrations in the country after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was reelected.
How did we find out?: We performed a Google Lens search on the keyframes of the video and found the same one uploaded on an Instagram handle named 'fatihsondakika'.
It was uploaded on 29 May.
The video's caption when translated to English said, "While the re-election of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was celebrated with enthusiasm, there were others who missed the fun."
News reports: On performing a keyword search, we found a report published in NTV — a Turkish news channel — that said that fireworks exploded among a crowd during the election celebrations in Fatih, Istanbul.
It carried visuals from the viral video and mentioned that while the incident created a panic among people, no one was injured.
Further, we found the same video uploaded on Reuters.
The description of the video said, "Fireworks exploded in the hands of a Turkish civilian who - along with thousands of others - was attending a celebration for president Tayyip Erdogan’s reelection on Sunday (28 May) night."
Conclusion: It is clear that an old and unrelated video is being shared to falsely claim that it shows a firework accident during the attack on Israeli consulate in Turkey by pro-Hamas protestors.
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