Israel has dismissed social media claims suggesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been assassinated, calling the reports “fake news” as tensions continue to escalate across the Middle East.The rumours began circulating online amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, responding to a question about the claims, the office said the reports were completely false.“These are fake news; the Prime Minister is fine,” the office told Anadolu News when asked about posts claiming Netanyahu had been killed in retaliation for recent Israeli and US strikes on Iran.The speculation emerged during a period of heightened regional conflict that began on February 28, when Israel and the United States launched coordinated strikes on Iranian targets. The attacks reportedly killed more than 1,200 people, including Iran’s then supreme leader Ali Khamenei.Iran has since retaliated with waves of drone and missile strikes across the region, targeting Israel and several neighbouring countries including Jordan, Iraq and Gulf states. Tehran has said the attacks are aimed at “US military assets” in the region.Amid the escalating hostilities, Netanyahu has also issued a direct warning to Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son and successor of Ali Khamenei. Asked whether Israel might attempt to target him in the same way it has targeted other leaders allied with Iran, Netanyahu declined to rule out such a move.“I wouldn’t issue life insurance policies on any of the leaders of the terrorist organisations,” he said. “This is their patron of terrorism. And I don’t intend to provide an exact report here about what we are planning or what we are going to do.”Netanyahu described Mojtaba Khamenei as a “puppet” of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps who “cannot show his face in public”.The Israeli leader also suggested that the latest developments have significantly altered the strategic balance in the region. “This is no longer the same Iran. This is no longer the same Middle East. And this is also not the same Israel,” he said.“We are not waiting, we are initiating, we are attacking. And we are doing so with a force the like of which has not been seen before.”Netanyahu also referred to the possibility that Israel’s military actions could create conditions for political change inside Iran, though he acknowledged that such an outcome would ultimately depend on the Iranian people themselves.“I have added another goal: to create the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow this terrible tyrannical regime. To create conditions doesn’t guarantee that it will happen… It’s up to you,” he said.“You can lead someone to water, but you can’t make them drink,” Netanyahu added, referring to the possibility of a popular uprising against Iran’s ruling establishment.
