During the current war between Lebanon and Israel, the official Israeli military account on X published a post claiming that the rocket Hezbollah used in the Majdal Shams attack is a heavy-weight rocket and purported that its warhead weighs over 1 ton.
The post was deleted afterward and was replaced with another one with the same claims but without mentioning the Majdal Shams attack, nor mentioning that it was stored in a civilian house.
Times of India (TOI) covered the Israeli claims in an article and shared the propaganda of weapons stored inside civilian houses in Lebanon. It should be noted that the Times of India’s report came after the deletion of the initial post and the publishing of the new one. The IOF did not mention that the rocket was stored in a civilian house in its new post, however, TOI still made this allegation and participated in the Israeli propaganda.
The IOF Contradicts Itself Regarding The Majdal Shams Attack
Pictures taken from the site of the Majdal Shams village after the attack confirm that the missile used does not weigh over 100 kilograms.
A 1-ton rocket causes far more damage than the damage caused in the Majdal Shams attack.
Israel has been using rockets weighing 1 ton or more in its war on Gaza. Comparing the aftermath of a 1-ton rocket used in Gaza to the aftermath of the rocket used in Majdal Shams, one could clearly see that the rocket used in the Majdal Shams attack was far less than 1 ton.
After the Majdal Shams attack, a 2-meter wide and a few centimeters deep crater was formed on the site. Such a small crater could be caused by a warhead that is about 50 kg to 10 kg, not a 1-ton.
Furthermore, Israel itself stated that the rocket used in the Majdal Shams attack was not 1-ton.
After the incident, Israel released an image of shrapnel left in the attack, claiming that the rocket used was a Falaq-1 rocket.
The warhead of Falaq-1 weighs 50 kilograms and has a range of 10 kilometers, according to research on the Iranian Falaq family released by the specialist consultancy in the arms and munitions field, Armament Research Services (ARES).
Comparing images provided by several military sites to the Falaq-1 rocket’s shape with the shape of the rocket pictured in the IOF’s post, it is noted that the Falaq-1 rocket differs from the claimed 1-ton rocket pictured by the IOF.
In other words, when the official IOF’s account on X claimed that a 1-ton rocket was used in the Majdal Shams attack, it contradicted its previous investigations.
A 600-kilogram Rocket Was Claimed To Be A 1-ton rocket
In the IOF’s deleted post, a rocket was pictured and claimed to be the rocket used in the Majdal Shams attack. As mentioned before, released Israeli investigations say that Falaq-1 was used in Majdal Shams.
Upon thoroughly analyzing the posted image of the rocket in the IOF’s X post, Misbar found that the pictured rocket does not weigh over 1 ton, nor was it the one used in the Majdal Shams attack as proved before.
The rocket in the image bears similarities with the Zelzal-2 rocket, the warhead of which is 600kg, not over 1 ton, as claimed in the deleted and the new post.
Several arms experts confirmed that the rocket shown in the IOF’s post is Zelzal-2.
Trevor Ball, a former explosive ordnance disposal specialist in the U.S. Army confirmed that the rocket pictured by the IOF is a Zelzal variant.
According to The Iran Primer, the Zelzal-2 rocket is 600kg, not a 1 ton as claimed by the IOF.
After providing misleading claims that contradicted the released Israeli investigations regarding the Majdal Shams attack, the Israeli military forces deleted its post and posted another without mentioning the Majdal Shams attack or that the pictured rocket was found in a civilian house.
Israel Repeatedly Makes Misleading Allegations To Legalize Targeting Law-Protected Facilities
Since its war of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and even before, Israel has been caught many times making fake and misleading allegations to legalize its unlawful strikes.
The deleted post in question is a recent example of its latest propaganda used against civilians in Lebanon.
Claiming that a rocket equipped with a 1-ton warhead is one of Israel’s attempts to propagandize the legality of indiscriminate strikes on civilian houses in Lebanon.
Such propaganda is a continuous policy employed in the Gaza Strip where allegations of the existence of Hamas tunnels are made wherever Israel wishes to strike.
In its post on the alleged 1-ton rocket, Israel did not provide any proof that the rocket was indeed found in a civilian house. However, the post was deleted afterward without providing any explanation and replaced with another one not mentioning its finding in a civilian house as earlier.
Israeli army spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has made a similar allegation in a video posted by the military's X account, “For over 20 years, Hezbollah has deployed its arms inside homes and militarised civilian infrastructure.” Hagari continued as a computer-generated image of a cross-section of civilian buildings containing missiles and other military equipment appeared.
Similar imagery was used by Israel in late October 2023, when Israel claimed that Hamas built its command and control center under the Shifa Medical Complex, Gaza’s biggest and main hospital.
Using 3D modeling, geolocation, OSINT, image complex, pattern analysis, and shadow analysis, Forensic Architecture’s investigation found serious flaws in the evidence presented by Tel Aviv to the ICJ. The investigation said that the computer-generated graphics alleging an extensive tunnel network beneath Al-Shifa are nothing like the Israeli military’s own claims about the tunnel footprint on 22 November.
Furthermore, the 27 October claim (which accompanied the computer-generated graphics) that a ‘command and control center’ existed beneath Al-Shifa contradicts the claims they subsequently made and the evidence they presented on 20 November. The investigation concluded that a Hamas command and control center was never uncovered under the hospital.
Hezbollah’s Capability Raises Suspicion Of Israel’s Allegations
While it is still hard to independently verify the Israeli allegations regarding the existence of Hezbollah’s mutation inside civilian houses, there are several indications that make these claims untrusted.
The nature of Hezbollah’s tunnel network makes it hard to believe that a group with such capabilities uses civilian houses to hide its munitions. In a video released in August titled "Our mountains are our stores," Hezbollah showed images of militants and goods trucks moving underground.
The video showed how vast Hezbollah’s network of tunnels is. A militant appeared in the video watching over a truck moving munitions and military goods inside the tunnel.
The vast nature of the tunnels could be noted in a scene showing a man riding a motorbike inside the tunnel.
In another scene, a truck is shown moving without problems inside the tunnel.
These scenes prove that the tunnel system of Hezbollah is huge and vast, raising suspicion as to why would a group that has such large tunnels hide its military weapons inside houses.
Several observers questioned the credibility of Israel’s claims and expressed skepticism.
"These are images of Hezbollah’s underground network shown in recent videos by the party. Israel wants you to believe an organization with infrastructure like this is storing high-value rockets in the bedrooms of Lebanese grandmothers. They’re trying to justify mass murder," wrote British anthropologist Philip Proudfoot on X.
With Nasrallah’s Assassination, Israel Propagandized Attacking Civilians
A massive bombardment was carried out by Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut late on Friday. Several 2000-pound bombs were used.
In its initial announced death toll, Lebanon’s health ministry stated that 2 people were killed and 76 were wounded. Haaretz reported that approximately 300 were killed in the attack according to Israeli estimations.
Israel justified its attack claiming that it assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. The assassination was questioned and unconfirmed until Hezbollah confirmed his death in a statement.
Al Jazeera reported that 4 buildings were completely obliterated and the buildings nearby were largely damaged. Other news agencies reported that 6 buildings were obliterated.
Whether Israel launched these deadly strikes targeting Hassan Nasrallah or not, Israel is committing a war crime by killing civilians and launching indiscriminate strikes.
Notably, Israel repeats its method of attacking militants in Gaza. Several 2000-pound bombs were used just to kill one militant, meaning that Israel intended to kill Nasarallh no matter what despite the fact that many civilians may have been killed.
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