Amid social media speculations about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's death, his office has reportedly dismissed the claims as "fake" and said that the PM is "fine".
The prime minister's office reportedly told Turkish news agency Anadolu Ajansi that social media claims that "Netanyahu has been assassinated" are "fake news."
Several videos and posts on social media had claimed that the Israeli Prime Minister was assassinated during the country's ongoing war with Iran. Social media users claimed that a video posted from Netanyahu's official X account used AI and showed six fingers on his hand.
Speculations were further strengthened by claims that Netanyahu's son, Yair Netanyahu, a reportedly active social media user, had stopped posting on X for a while.
Users pointed out that it has been five days since Yair Netanyahu has posted on his X feed. Otherwise, "he is typically quite busy".
The social media claims surface amidst the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which began with with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and the country's retaliatory strikes. The attacks later spiralled into a full-blown regional conflict, following the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The West Asia war entered its third week with the US and Israel intensifying strikes on Iran, with targeted attacks on Iranian military and strategic infrastructure, including those linked to Tehran’s oil export network.
Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday vowed to "pursue and kill" Benjamin Netanyahu. "If this child-killing criminal is alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force," said the Guards on their website Sepah News.