A photo of a burning ship has gone viral, with the claim that an Israeli ship was hit by a Yemeni cruise missile today.
Verified accounts on twitter, including @drhossamsamy65 tweeted “A picture of the Israeli ship that was hit by a Yemeni cruise missile today..” on Dec 12, 2023. The tweet has received an about 659.1k views on X.
صورة السفينة الإسرائيلية التى اصيبت بصاروخ كروز يمنى اليوم.. pic.twitter.com/z5Xuyg9Awd
— Dr.Sam Youssef Ph.D.,M.Sc.,DPT. (@drhossamsamy65) December 12, 2023
What is the Actual Truth About this Incident? : Fact
In actuality, this is an old photo depicting an unexpected fire that broke out on the Cleopatra passenger ship, in the ship storage area between the ports of Adabiya and Al-Zaytiyah. The ship had been under custody for sixteen years. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is unrelated to it.
We visited elbalad, which published an article on this incident on September 12, 2023 with the headline “A sudden fire on the Cleopatra passenger ship, which has been kept in Suez for 16 years Photos and video”.

Another article with the headline “A sudden fire on the Cleopatra passenger ship, which has been kept in Suez for 16 years Photos and video. The video is complete” was also published on September 12, 2023.

D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:
1420
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) December 12, 2023
ANALYSIS:Misleading
FACT:An image that features a burning ship has been shared,claiming that it is an Israeli ship that was hit by a Yemeni cruise missile today. Fact is that this is an old image that shows a sudden fire that broke out on the Cleopatra passenger ship,(1/2) pic.twitter.com/9xYc67iqEU
Intent:
Propagandists circulate old images with false claims to set their narrative against Israel. After proper research, analysis and fact-checking, we have discovered that Cleopatra passenger ship, which had been under custody for sixteen years, caught fire suddenly in the ship storage area between the ports of Adabiya and Al-Zaytiyah. This old image depicts the incident. It is unrelated to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Conclusion:
Claim : Reportedly, an Israeli ship was hit by a Yemeni cruise missile today, according to a picture of a burning ship that has gone viral.
Fact : The truth is that this is an old photograph of a sudden fire that broke out on the Cleopatra passenger ship, which had been in custody for 16 years, in the ship storage area between Adabiya and Al-Zaytiyah. It has nothing to do with the conflict between Israel and Palestine.