Viral video of Israeli pilots fleeing air bases and leaving their service

RATING JUSTIFICATION

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search and a reverse image search to trace the original video.

Multiple pro-Iranian users, based on their past posts, have been sharing a video on social media platform X and Facebook since June 14, 2026, claiming that it shows Israeli pilots fleeing air bases. However, the video is from November 2024, and shows Israeli police on the way to control a protest in Tel Aviv.

US and Israeli forces launched a war against Iran on February 28. After more than five weeks of intense military confrontation, President Donald Trump indefinitely extended what was initially a two-week ceasefire, but the conflict remains unresolved.

On June 14, 2026, US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the US and Iran have reached a deal that declares “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts.” The two sides are expected to meet for a signing ceremony on June 19, in Switzerland.

Israeli officials said the country is not bound by the agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end its fight with Hezbollah or to pull its forces out of Lebanon.

HOW IT STARTED

On June 14, a pro-Iranian account, based on its past posts, shared a video on X showing a group of men and women in uniform walking along a road, with sirens and horns audible in the background.

The caption of the post read: “Israeli pilots escape from airbases and their abandonment of service.”

The post 73,7400 gained views.

Another pro-Iranian user shared the same clip with the following caption: “Israeli Air Force pilots are fleeing from air bases and abandoning their service.”

The post gained 165,000 views.

Another account shared the same clip with a similar caption, gaining 40,000 views.

The same clip was also posted on Facebook with the following caption: “Video indicates a panic among IDF soldiers and pilots, with some allegedly abandoning positions and attempting to surrender amid escalating Iranian strikes.” It gained 28,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the conflict in the Middle East.

A reverse image search yielded the same video shared on X by a Haaretz journalist, Bar Peleg, as per his bio, dated November 6, 2024, with the following caption: “Magav police in south Ayalon are crossing in a large group to extinguish fires with firefighters, hundreds of protesters behind them. One of the protesters confronted one of the policemen who put on a face covering in violation of demonstration regulations.”

As per the post, Israeli police officers were marching on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Street to extinguish fires ignited by protesters following the firing of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

At the four-second mark of the video, a woman in uniform can be seen holding a fire extinguisher.

The same journalist shared another similar video a few minutes later, saying the police were not attempting to clear protesters on the road.

Further investigation yielded an AFP Forum video published on November 6, 2024, showing a protest in Tel Aviv after Gallant was fired. The clip shows demonstrators had set fires along a stretch of the Ayalon highway in the city.

Moreover, comparing the viral clip with Google Maps Street View of a portion of the Ayalon highway shows the same skyscraper, “Electra Tower”.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows Israeli pilots fleeing air bases and leaving their service is false.

The video shows Israeli police personnel on their way to set out fires during protests in Tel Aviv in November 2024.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES

Nov 6, 2024, X post:
https://archive.md/Epslm

Nov 6, 2024, X post:
https://archive.md/UWbk2

Nov 6, 2024, AFP Forum website:
https://www.afpforum.com/AFPForum/Search/ViewMedia.aspx?mui=1&hid=2C0A40E51CBFD0E17869765F881B666F1CAE6DDB1861DAB17A4A0CC2339096C2

Google Maps Street View:
https://perma.cc/74YR-UR2A?type=image