Israel

Did Pope Leo XIV say, "Iran can have a nuclear weapon," as President Donald Trump suggested on the White House lawn in April 2026? No, that's not true: The pope has repeatedly argued against war and denounced nuclear weapons. In March 2026, he posted on X, "Let us #PrayTogether that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that…

Did CNN rely on an unnamed "fake news site from Nigeria" to report on Iran's ceasefire statements on April 7, 2026, as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that CNN relied on a Nigerian website. The initial CNN report said that the statement attributed directly to the Supreme National Security Council was…

Does a real video show two crewmembers parachuting to the ground after ejecting from a damaged U.S. F-15 fighter jet over Iran? No, that's not true: A content detection tool determined with 99.9 percent confidence that the video was AI generated. While an F-15 was shot down over Iran on April 3, 2026, only one of the two crewmembers had…

Does a video show burning tower buildings in Tel Aviv following Iranian strikes in April 2026? No, that's not true: The video shows a deadly fire in Hong Kong in November 2025. The footage is not related to the Middle East conflict. The claim appeared in an April 1, 2026, post on X account @drhossamsamy65 (archived here). It opened: 🔴…

Does a court filing definitively state that the bullet that killed Charlie Kirk does not match the rifle allegedly used by Tyler Robinson? No, that's not true: In court documents, defense lawyers said a summary report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives indicates the agency was unable to match up the bullet recovered from Kirk. The defense…

Did Israeli Channel 13 and Al Jazeera confirm that Hezbollah partially or wholly captured Kiryat Shmona? No, that's not true: There's no reliable evidence to support that claim. Neither news organization reported that Hezbollah fighters had taken Israel's northernmost city, located near its border with Lebanon, although the community has been largely evacuated due to ongoing cross-border attacks. The claim…

Does a video of a burning ship actually show an oil tanker hit in the Strait of Hormuz on March 27, 2026? No, that's not true: No credible news organizations reported an oil tanker being hit in the Strait of Hormuz on that day. The video showed signs of AI generation. The claim appeared in a post (archived here, here…

Did Lufthansa offer free business class upgrades to people in Israel to apologize for the Holocaust? No, that's not true: The company publicly denied it. Two online AI detectors said the image purportedly providing the proof was likely to have been generated by AI. The claim originated from a post (archived here) published by the @0xRacist X account on March…

Did Kuwait declare war on Iran as a viral social media post claimed? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Kuwait made any such declaration; however, it did declare force majeure due to the Middle East conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. By doing so, Kuwait is legally suspending, delaying, or canceling oil and gas shipments…

Does a viral video on social media prove that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi publicly said she no longer wants to "set foot in the United States again" after Trump's Pearl Harbor comment, made in her presence? No, that's not true: The viral clip appeared to use AI-generated audio to create the illusion that she said what she never did.…