Does a photo shared on social media authentically show Houthis missiles targeting Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in May 2025? No, that's not true: The Houthis' attempt to target the airport on May 18, 2025, failed when Israel's air defenses intercepted the rockets. There was a Houthi missile that hit near the airport on May 4, but none since. The image used to make the claim of the attack appeared to have been generated by artificial intelligence, as evidenced by a jet airliner on a runway featuring two tails -- one on each end -- and backward wings.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @MiddleEast01 on May 22, 2025. The image was captioned:
The Houthis target Ben Gurion Airport for the second time within 12 hours.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of X.com by Lead Stories)
The Google translation of the Hebrew text on the image reads:
#Your_airports_are_unsafe
Your airports are not safe
(Source: photo of an iPhone screen using Google translate by Lead Stories)
A major visual clue that the image was created by an AI tool is the structure of the airliner in the lower left section. Notice the plane has a tail on the rear and the front. Also note the odd shape of the wings. Artificial intelligence tools often make mistakes in those kind of details, but you'll never see a real jet that has those features.
(Source: screenshot of X by Lead Stories)
Israel's air defenses failed to intercept a single ballistic missile launched by the Houthis from Yemen on May 4, 2025, according to multiple news reports and the IDF. The Israeli military reported six people were injured, none seriously. This image is a screenshot of a video showing the missile landing close to Ben Gurion Airport.
(Source: screenshot of X by Lead Stories)
The IDF's air defenses successfully intercepted another Houthi missile that appeared to be aimed at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, May 19, 2025.
The airport was functioning normally as of May 22, 2025, according the Ben Gurion Airport website.
(Source: screenshot of https://www.iaa.gov.il/en/ by Lead Stories)
