Image presented as proof of 'mass exodus' at Israel airport was taken in 2022 | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY

The claim: Image shows ‘mass exodus’ at Ben Gurion Airport amid Israel-Hamas war

An April 14 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a crowd of travelers at a busy airport.

“Israhells Media sources report: ‘Right now, Ben Gurion Airport in Israel is witnessing a mass exodus as tens of thousands of Zi0nist families flee Israel to their countries of origin (sic),” reads the post.

It received more than 1,000 likes in one day. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The image predates the post by two years. It was taken at Ben Gurion Airport ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover in April 2022 and included in a local news report at the time.

News article, mask-wearing show photo was taken before Hamas war

The image was included in an April 2022 report from The Times of Israel. The caption states it shows travelers at the Tel Aviv airport ahead of Passover, a Jewish holiday commemorating the Israelites' freedom from slavery in Egypt.

The image also was distributed by the Israeli photo agency Flash 90. The photo's credit shows Avshalom Sassoni took the photo on April 14, 2022.

Fact check: Newborn crisis in Gaza is real, but photo in viral post predates current war

The travelers’ attire also indicates it predates the Israel-Hamas war.

The widespread mask-wearing in the photo lines up with the indoor mask mandate Israel had in place at the time it was taken. The regulation was lifted later that month, with only a few exceptions.

USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, including false assertions that a photo shows American troops praying before being deployed to Israel, that a video shows “casualties in Gaza” being faked and that an image shows Israeli tanks “destroyed by the resistance.”

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive responses.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim image shows 'mass exodus' at Israel airport | Fact check

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