Hours after a deadly drone strike on a military base near Binyamina killed four Golani Brigade recruits and injured dozens, false reports circulated on social media Sunday and Monday claiming that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi had been killed in the Hezbollah attack.
The rumors, aimed at boosting the terror group and engaging in psychological warfare, were quickly disproven when Halevi arrived at the base after the incident to meet with commanders and medical teams.
Despite being untrue, the claims spread rapidly on social media, with two prominent posts on X amassing two million views each within 12 hours. The rapid spread of misinformation, often outpacing the dissemination of facts, is bolstered by a well-coordinated network of Hezbollah and Hamas supporters online.
An initial IDF investigation revealed that the drone exploded in the base’s dining hall during dinner, killing three soldiers instantly, with a fourth succumbing to his injuries later. Air Force helicopters evacuated the wounded, while military counselors were dispatched to support those traumatized by the attack.
The relatively new base, which includes modern infrastructure and bomb shelters, was targeted by two Hezbollah drones, likely of the Sayyad 107 model, launched from Lebanon via the sea.
The IDF detected both drones before one was intercepted off the coast of Nahariya. The second drone was pursued by fighter jets but lost contact before it exploded at the base. The Air Force is investigating why the drone was not rediscovered and why no alarm was triggered.
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