By: Umme Kulsum
October 10 2023
Old video of naval clash at Taiwan Strait shared as American warships deployed near Israel
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Screenshot of post claiming American warship reaches the western beach of Israel. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
The video shows a Chinese warship nearly hitting U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait. It is not related to the recent Israel-Hamas conflict.
Claim ID d6fdc237
What's the claim?
A video (archive here) showing what looks like the silhouette of a ship against the horizon in the sea is being widely shared across social media platforms with the claim that an American warship has reached the "western beach of Israel." The video was shared with viral hashtags like #IsraelPalestineWar, #IsraelUnderAttack and #Israel. An archive of an X (formerly Twitter) post can be found here) with the caption. At the time of writing this story, the post had been viewed about 23,000 times. The footage is also viral on Facebook, where one user shared the clip with a similar narrative. An archive version of the post can be found here.
Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, the video clip dates back to June 2023.
What we found
A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led us to a report by Canadian news network Global News, published on June 3, 2023, headlined "Chinese warship nearly hits U.S. destroyer in Taiwan Strait during joint Canada-U.S. mission."
The report included a longer version of the viral clip, which can be seen at the timestamp of 1:10 minutes. The article explains that the footage was captured by a Global News journalist who had been traveling on the HMCS Montreal since May 25.
Screenshot of Global News report. (Source: Global News)
The viral video includes a logo for Telegraph News. This led us to a YouTube Short published by the Telegraph on June 4, 2023. The Telegraph also posted a longer video version on its YouTube channel, crediting it to Global News.
Comparison of the original Telegraph video and the viral video. (Source:X/screenshots/YouTube/Telegraph)
Several mainstream media agencies, including Sky News, CBS News, and NBC, also reported on the incident back in June 2023, with the same visuals.
According to the BBC, in response to Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, the United States is deploying a navy ship to the region as a form of support. U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier, a missile cruiser, and four missile destroyers were heading to the region, the report added.
Although the U.S. is moving aircraft carriers, ships, and jets to the eastern Mediterranean, the video shared online is old and unrelated to the ongoing conflict.
The verdict
The viral video is of a warship that nearly hit U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait in June 2023. It has nothing to do with the recent conflict.