Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the 15th, local time, publicly threatened to kill Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The IRGC, through the website of its outlet Sefa News, targeted Netanyahu and said, "If this criminal who kills children is alive, we will keep pursuing him and kill him with all our might."
By using the phrase "if alive," the IRGC stoked the "Netanyahu death rumor" spreading recently on social media (SNS). In a video address by Prime Minister Netanyahu released on the 13th, some on SNS claimed his right hand appeared to have six fingers, fueling an unverified rumor that it was a video "generated by artificial intelligence (AI)."
U.S. conservative political commentator Candace Owens also wrote on X on the 13th, "Where is Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu's nickname)," and asked, "Why did the prime minister's office post and then delete his fake AI video?"
The previous day, Türkiye's Anadolu Agency reported that, after inquiring with the Israeli prime minister's office about the "Netanyahu death rumor" spreading on SNS, it received the response that it was "fake news and there is nothing wrong with the prime minister's safety."