The photo was released shortly after Israeli defence minister Israel Katz claimed that Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has been killed. Amid the ongoing rumours over his assassination, Israel on Tuesday shared a photo of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in office, which they said was taken while ordering the elimination of senior Iranian leaders.
The image comes just a day after rumours around Netanyahu’s death continued to spread, even as a new video of the Israeli PM was shared from his official X handle, showing him casually walking outdoors. The official X handle of the Prime Minister of Israel released the new photo shortly after Israeli defence minister Israel Katz announced that Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, had been killed.
The X post read: “Photo: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering the elimination of senior Iranian regime officials.” The image comes just a day after rumours around Netanyahu’s death continued to spread, even as a new video of the Israeli PM was shared from his official X handle, showing him casually walking outdoors.
Speculations around Netanyahu’s death have been rife amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, which started with the US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran, wherein Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. Several unverified claims and reports surfaced on social media, claiming that Netanyahu had either been killed or badly injured in Iranian strikes. An offensive that could be Iran’s retaliation for Khamenei’s killing.
Soon after, a video posted on Netanyahu’s X handle was deeply analysed by netizens and internet sleuths on social media, with claims that the footage showed the Israeli PM having six fingers. Claims argued that the video had been manipulated or AI-generated. Rumours were further fueled as Israeli PM’s son, Yair Netanyahu’s X handle, caught the public eye. Social media claims suggested that Yair had not posted on his account for a while, allegedly due to a ‘family tragedy’.
While it is true that Yair last posted on X on March 9, there have been no official reports or indications on the reason behind the halted activity on his social media profile. Soon after, the Israeli PM’s office told Anadolu Agency that the rumours of Netanyahu’s assassination are “fake news”, adding that the prime minister is “fine”.
Later, Netanyahu also shared a video on X handle, joking about rumours of his death. “I am dying for coffee,” he said sarcastically, while getting a cup of coffee from a cafe outside Jerusalem. Netanyahu’s ‘coffee’ video did not put the speculation to rest, as X’s AI chatbot, Grok, called it “100% deepfake”.
Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said Netanyahu is “very much alive”, adding that the recent video of him is genuine. “Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once,” he said. Another fresh video of Netanyahu, showing him walking outdoors, was shared on Monday. This footage, as well, fuelled the death rumours.
Fresh claims were made regarding Netanyahu’s death because in Monday’s video, the Israeli PM was seen wearing the same outfit he wore in the coffee shop video. Social media users and internet sleuths claimed that this video had also been manipulated or AI-generated as the ring on Netanyahu’s fingers vanished and reappeared in the moving frames of the clip.
