Paris (Reuters) - A photo of the Eiffel Tower lit up with the colors of the Israeli flag in 2023 has been misrepresented online as showing the monument lit up in solidarity with Israel in April 2024.
On April 13, Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for an airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus. On April 14, the photo from 2023 was posted on social media with the caption “Eiffel tower last night.”
The original photograph was taken by Judith Litvine, a photographer at France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and was posted by official French government social media accounts in October 2023.
The Eiffel Tower was lit in white and blue, the colors of the Israeli flag, on Oct. 9, 2023, two days after a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
On Oct. 9, the official Instagram accounts for the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and the Eiffel Tower monument also posted a different image showing the Eiffel Tower lit in white and blue from a distance.
There is no evidence that the Eiffel Tower was lit again with the colors of the Israeli flag in April 2024. The monument's official social media accounts have not posted any photographs in support of Israel since the 2024 Iranian attack.
The spokesperson for the monument did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The image showing the Eiffel Tower lit with the colors of the Israeli flag is from October 2023, not April 2024.