FACT CHECK: Video shows 2025 Iranian missile attack, not US strike on Venezuela

Claim: A video shows a missile attack on Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas, Venezuela, during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video bearing the claim was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by an account named Noticias VN on January 3, with the caption in Spanish: “#Urgente: Helicopteros arrollados, disparan misiles directos sobre Fuerte Tiuna.” 

(Urgent: Helicopters fire direct missiles at Fuerte Tiuna.) 

The video shows aircraft launching missiles in an alleged attack on what the video claims is Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex. 

The post came following the US military-led raid to capture Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3, 2026.

As of this writing, the video has garnered over 663,000 views, 7,911 likes, and 1,882 reposts.

The facts: While the US military did strike Fuerte Tiuna as part of its raid to capture Maduro, the video used in the X post shows missile attacks on Israel in 2025 — not the 2026 attack on Venezuela.

The original video is from Iranian missile attacks on Tel Aviv during a 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June 2025. The person heard in the video is also speaking Hebrew. 

BBC Verify senior journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh debunked the claim in a reply on the X post, while open source intelligence (OSINT) analyst Tal Hagin provided links to the original footage showing Iranian missile strikes on Israel, which was posted on June 15, 2025. 

Misbar, an independent Arab fact-checking platform, also debunked the video in a similar fact-check, noting that some accounts identified the location of the bombardment as Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv.

Attack on Venezuela: US forces carried out strikes against targets inside Caracas, including military installations, as part of the operation to capture Maduro and his wife on January 3. They were later transported to New York to face federal drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges. 

Maduro pleaded not guilty to all charges on January 5, maintaining he was kidnapped and calling himself a “prisoner of war.” Both he and his wife remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. 

While Venezuela’s future remains uncertain, US President Donald Trump said the US would run the South American country and announced plans to sell Venezuelan oil.

The US operation drew mixed global reactions, with the United Nations human rights office calling it a violation of international law, while Venezuelan migrants around the world celebrated the deposition of Maduro. Meanwhile, after earlier denouncing the US actions, Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez said she is willing to cooperate with the US.

Maduro’s capture triggered a wave of misinformation online, with old photos and videos misrepresented as footage of the US raid. (READ: AI-generated celebrations, old photos spread after Maduro’s capture) – Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com

Efren Cyril Bocar is a journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar who graduated with a degree in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. Cyril is also a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024. 

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.