Israel

Does a video show an ambush or IED attack on a convoy of M1A Abrams tanks crossing a bridge? No, that's not true: This video is fake. It circulated on social media in early April 2026 with captions claiming it showed Israeli tanks attacked by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The Hive Moderation AI-generated content detection tool rated one early copy…

Do viral screenshots of a Wikipedia article about French soccer referee François Letexier confirm that he is Jewish? No, that's not true: The edits made after the 2026 Egypt-Argentina FIFA World Cup game didn't link to credible sources stating that. Lead Stories found no publicly available information suggesting that Letexier grew up in an "Orthodox Jewish family." The claim appeared…

Does an image posted by President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account as evidence of "retribution" against Iran show a U.S. bombing in July 2026? No, that's not true: The photo shows a previous attack on Iran by Israel that took place more than a year earlier, on June 15, 2025. Trump got the image from another social media…

Was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance for the Argentina-Austria World Cup match in Arlington, Texas, on June 22, 2026? No, that's not true: Two AI detection tools indicated that the image was AI-generated. One found it was 100 percent likely to have been created by AI, while the other concluded it was generated using OpenAI tools. There are…

Does a real photo show an Iranian player displaying a symbolic school backpack at the World Cup? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool determined that the image was 99.8% "likely to be AI-generated." There are no credible reports that an Iranian player held up the backpack. The symbol previously has been exhibited in honor of schoolgirls killed when…

Does a video featuring a burning fuel tank rolling away after an explosion show an event in Iran in June 2026? No, that's not true: The footage shows an explosion at a gas station in Chechnya, a republic within the Russian Federation, in October 2024, not Iran. The clip also appeared on a social media account labeled as a parody.…

Does a photo show a man from Gaza buried in concrete by Israeli soldiers? No, that's not true: Social media posts using this same picture first claimed in May 2026 it was linked to a murder in Brazil by a criminal gang. Lead Stories found no credible news reports or other reliable evidence confirming that Israeli soldiers did this to…

Is Spanish soccer star Lamine Yamal possibly missing the World Cup in the United States because of a Palestinian protest and visa issues? No, that's not true: There is no evidence supporting the claim that Yamal would miss the World Cup. As of June 7, 2026, he was already with the Spanish national team at its home base in Chattanooga,…

Did UN Women publish a report saying it confirmed "639 rapes and over 3,000 cases of sexual harassment in the Ukrainian Armed Forces"? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, there was no such report on the UN Women website, and the organization confirmed to Lead Stories it had never published such data. Posts with the claim reused…

Does a video show an Iranian missile strike on Israeli or U.S. assets in early June 2026? No, that's not true: The explosion shown in the video occurred at a fireworks factory in Malta. The powerful blast injured two people at the Ta' Lourdes fireworks factory on June 1, 2026. The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here)…