Wildfires broke out across central Israel on Wednesday, prompting emergency responses and evacuations in several towns. At the same time, a massive dust storm swept through large parts of the Middle East — covering southern Israel, the Gaza Strip, and at least nine Arab countries in a thick haze.

While Israeli authorities say the fires have since been brought under control, scenes of chaos and environmental distress have dominated headlines across the region, giving rise to posts sharing dramatic videos and images claiming to show real-time footage from Israel.

Viral AI video misrepresented as Israeli wildfires

DW Fact check examined two of the widely shared clips.

Claim: Viral video shows cities in Israel engulfed by fire.

One video compilation, shared widely on X (more than 900,000 views) and TikTok(more than 300,000 views), claims to show Israeli cities being consumed by wildfires. Captions on the posts include: "Israel declares a state of emergency as the fire engulfs it," and, in French, "Devilish wildfires near Jerusalem — is it the manifestation of God?"

DW Fact check: False

The video is AI-generated and has been online since at least January, long before the current fires. It previously circulated in January as alleged footage from California wildfires.

A closer analysis reveals several typical signs of AI-generated content.

In one scene, power lines stretch across the frame without any supporting poles or infrastructure — an anomaly common in AI-generated visuals. Just seconds later, emergency vehicles appear with static, non-flashing light bars, and their license plates are filled with random patterns instead of legible numbers or letters. One car even materializes out of thin air and drives through roadblocks. At another point, a vehicle vanishes mid-motion, a glitch seen frequently when AI systems fail to maintain object permanence.

Throughout the video, flames seem to merge seamlessly into palm trees, and conspicuously, no smoke rises from the supposed fires—further undermining the clip's credibility.

 

Experts say that AI tools often pull from cinematic footage or synthetic datasets, leading to unrealistic visuals when attempting to depict real disasters. That appears to be the case here. So, this video doesn't show the recent wildfires in Israel.

 

Claim: Viral video shows a massive sandstorm sweeping through rural Israel.

A widely circulated video on X and other platforms claims to show a sandstorm hitting rural Israel in the aftermath of recent wildfires. One caption reads, "If fire wasn't enough, a massive sandstorm has hit Israel". The post was viewed more than 360,000 times. Filmed from inside a moving car, the video captures a dense wall of dust sweeping across a desert highway lined with palm trees. In the final seconds, a mosque and nearby buildings come into view — prompting viewers to speculate about the location.

DW Fact Check: False

The video does not show Israel and has no connection to the recent sandstorm that affected parts of the country. It was reportedly filmed in Wadi ad-Dawasir, a governorate in central Saudi Arabia.

The same footage was shared by Saudi media outlets, including the TikTok account of Al Arabiya, as early as March 20. At the time, it was reported as depicting a sandstorm that blanketed large stretches of Wadi ad-Dawasir region.

Since then, the video has been misattributed online under various locations. In addition to the false Israel claim, it has also been shared as allegedly showing the town of Siwaor the Sallum governorate in the northwest of Egypt.

Despite later being miscaptioned and recirculated during this week's regional weather events, there is no evidence linking the video to Israel. Its use in that context is misleading and the claim, that it shows a sandstorm in Israel is false.

Daniel Ebertz contributed to this fact check.

Edited by: Andreas Illmer and Joscha Weber