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“Israelis are burning Albania”: How the false narrative linking Israeli tourists to the fires spread online

2026-09-09 12:02:39Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

“Israelis are burning Albania”: How the false narrative linking

"Krujë, oh blessed city, wait, wait for Israel, it is coming like a disguised drone to burn down the motherland," wrote the "Claws" account on the X social network on August 29, sharing footage of a fire in the Krujë area.

The recorded event itself was real, but it was not related to Israeli citizens, much less to an arson by them. The massive fire was reported on August 29 between Kroi i Madh and the village of Cudhi in Krujë and did not identify the cause or any suspects. In the post, these fires were attributed to the Israelis, without providing any evidence to support this claim.  

From Amfora's monitoring, the same profile distributed at least 110 posts between August 7 and September 3, most of which linked the fires to Israelis from the north to the south of the country, speculating on their interests in the mines, in the "Mountain Package" and using the sentence, "Israelis are burning Albania...", to which the location of the fire was added as appropriate. This trend was also amplified by other accounts and pages on social media.

For tourism experts, the repetition of narratives that blame foreign nationals for fires or other events without evidence, in this case Israelis, may also affect the perception of Albania as a safe destination. 

"Rhetorical language or conspiracy theories that attribute responsibility for the fires to certain groups or nationalities, including Israeli visitors or investors, have an immediate and very negative impact on perceived safety," tourism expert Zak Topuzi told Amfora.

Israeli tourists are framed by arsonists 

"24 hours before Dajti was engulfed in flames, a group of Israelis visited the area from corner to corner...", wrote "Vatani News" through a post on "Instagram", sharing photos of several people as they moved on Dajti Mountain and in the cable car area. The publication received 1500 likes, 277 comments and 212 reposts, "billing" the Israeli tourists with suspicions of arson.

"Vatani News" presents itself as an information channel, which has so far published content about the fires in Albania with emotional and questioning titles, in the comments of which unsupported accusations against the Israelis have appeared, while the channel itself has previously targeted them. A narrative now widespread at a global level, where hundreds of posts on social media present the Israelis as the authors of the fires in Lebanon and other countries, although they do not contain verified facts.

Amfora.al reviewed the public statements and 24-hour summaries of the State Police for the period July 1 - August 31, 2026 regarding suspected arsonists. In cases where individual data was provided, the persons detained, arrested or prosecuted for arson were identified only as citizens residing in Albania. 

In the national summary of July 14, the State Police announced that 29 people had been arrested or prosecuted as suspected perpetrators of arson – while in the reports on the cases in Mirdita and Himara, the suspects were identified as residing in Albania and none were presented by the police as foreign citizens. 

Meanwhile, the “suspicions” and insinuations reached international profiles, such as on the social network “X”. On September 6, the account “Rabbi Jeff” published footage of the fires in Himara, writing that a large group of Israeli tourists were in the area and that there had been tensions with the locals earlier, before raising the question: “Coincidence?” The post received a significant audience, with around 209 thousand views, 11 thousand likes, 4 thousand reposts and over 500 replies. 

This account appears to be the official backup profile of “Parody Jeff,” a channel that Amfora identified on August 26 as one of the main spreaders of the false claim that a burned-out electrical booth in Vlora was an “Airbnb” that was set on fire after the owner evicted Israeli soldiers. The two posts repeat the same framing, linking the fires in Albania to the presence of Israelis through insinuations, without providing evidence of their authorship, and “X” has now closed the other account, “Parody Jeff.”

The narrative that emerged during this year's hot summer seems to have been emerging since the beginning of the year, when on January 13, the "Libri Komenti" page published a video of a protest on Facebook, bearing the caption: "Zionism out of Chile, out of Argentina and out of Latin America."

“Israelis are burning Albania”: How the false narrative linking
Screenshots from social media posts

The video shared in Albanian was accompanied by the caption: How do you explain this protest? Could the same thing have happened with the fires in Albania? If you have Israelis in your country, you are in danger.

"Thousands of protesters in Argentina and Chile are demanding the expulsion of Israelis and the severing of ties with the Zionist terrorist entity, after Israeli tourists allegedly started forest fires in Argentina and Chile," the post concluded. 

For experts, the amplification of such claims could affect both individual decisions to travel to Albania, as well as the reaction of tour operators. For Zak Topuz, the Israeli market is quite sensitive to issues of personal safety and amplification in the media.

"Such language not only dampens the desire of individual visitors to travel to Albania, but can also lead to the revision of travel advice by central tourism agencies or to massive cancellations by tour operators," Topuzi told Amfora. 

Another expert in the field warns that if the narrative linking Israelis to the fires is amplified and repeated in the future, it could affect how communities perceive these visitors and create problems. 

"If too much is added to this element, it could cause a reaction in the ordinary community from what is being discussed regarding the Israelis," said Brunilda Liçaj, a lecturer in the field of tourism at the "Aleksandër Moisiu" University of Durrës.

“Israelis are burning Albania”: How the false narrative linking
Screenshots of monitored social media posts

 
These cases come at a time when the number of visitors from Israel to Albania is on the rise. According to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, in May 2026 visitors from Israel increased by 48% compared to the same month a year earlier. 

So far, there is no public data linking the spread of these narratives to a decline in the number of Israelis choosing to recognize Albania. However, according to experts, in such situations, transparent communication based on official data from state institutions and the private sector remains essential.

"Accusative language or assumptions without legal arguments should be avoided, leaving the investigation of the causes to the judicial authorities," said expert Zak Topuzi.

Topuzi also focused on the need for a direct warning system during emergencies, to inform residents and tourists in endangered areas in real time.

"Albania must implement the European directive 'EU-Alert', by activating the 'Cell Broadcast' protocol at the national level, linked to Civil Protection," he concluded.

The fire situation in Albania was widely reported on domestic and foreign channels, linking Israeli tourists without facts or evidence to the massive forest fires from north to south, which have so far endangered cities such as Kruja and Himara./ amfora.al

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