Were Israel's neighbors, including Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and the Gaza Strip simultaneously launching 2,000 missiles at Israel on January 3, 2024? No, that's not true: There are no credible reports of simultaneous attacks from these areas on Israel. There have been separate attacks: Since the onset of the Hamas-Israel conflict on October 7, 2023, there have been numerous rocket attacks by Hamas on Israeli cities. Additionally, pro-Iran Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea suspected of links to Israel. Lebanese Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has also engaged in rocket attacks on northern Israeli cities from across the Lebanese border.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on January 3, 2024, under the title (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff) "Resisting Arab nations shower Israel with 2,000 missiles." A Yemeni flag is displayed, along with an emoji depicting a face with tears of joy.
Another caption in a red bar in the footage read (as translated):
Live today at 11:11 continuous strikes from Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Jan 4 14:42:29 2024 UTC)
The 13-second video showcases obscure and foggy footage filmed at night, featuring swiftly moving red dots flashing in the sky, supposedly capturing the missile attack on Israel. The language accompanying the frame suggests a coordinated and nearly simultaneous assault on Israel on January 3, 2024.
A Google Lens search (archived here) on January 4, 2024, revealed an identical reel, albeit lacking the Yemeni flag, that had been shared on a Facebook page (archived here) on December 12, 2023. Further investigation traced its origin to a reel posted on Instagram (archived here) on December 4, 2023.
At the time of writing, there were no documented instances of coordinated attacks on Israel from Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on January 3, 2024. A Google News search for the phrase "Israel under missile attack by Yemen Syria Lebanon Gaza" (archived here) did not yield any credible reports substantiating such claims.
