Did the commander of the United Arab Emirates Air Force, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Al-Alawi, visit Israel after the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in early October 2023, as shown in a video on social media? No, that's not true: The video shows Alawi's visit to Israel in 2021.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on October 30, 2023, with a caption (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff) that read:
Believe it or not, the Commander of UAE's Air Force in Tel Aviv?? he is visiting to check on UAE's fighter jets bombing Gaza
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Oct 30 13:59:38 2023 UTC)
The post has a video with Alawi in military attire, shaking hands with Israeli military personnel, including the former Israeli Air Force Commander Amikam Norkin.
The video is of a prior visit by Alawi to Israel, which occurred on October 25, 2021, when the UAE's Air Force took part in the Biannual Blue Flag Wargames held by Israel in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. The training exercise was comprised of several nations showcasing their military forces. Among the participants were the air forces of the U.S., Germany, India, the U.K., France, Greece and Italy, which joined Israel as hosts. Israel's open airspace and topography, which extends below sea level in many areas, provide excellent training conditions for pilots.
