Has Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Been Killed in Drone Airstrike? Fact Emerges
- A viral post on X claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been killed in a drone strike
- The post attracted nearly a million views and thousands of interactions, spreading across the platform
- Fact-checking has been done, with sources confirming Netanyahu's status and his service as Prime Minister
On February 28, an X account named ReversingTrend posted: 'Initial reports indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed by an Iranian drone strike inside his residence in Tel Aviv.'
The post quickly gained traction, recording 954,000 views, 1,100 retweets, and 7,700 likes.
Source: Getty Images
Legit.ng conducted a search using the MyAIFact-check tool and received the following verdict:
“The claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed by an Iranian drone strike inside his residence is false. According to the provided information, a drone strike was launched toward Netanyahu's house in 2024, but it did not result in any casualties. The drone crashed into a building, and Netanyahu and his wife were not present at the time of the incident.”
Further checks showed that there is no official statement from the Israeli government that Netanyahu is not alive.
No reliable sources confirmed or reported that Netanyahu has been killed.
See the original X post below:
Further checks by Legit.ng showed that his profile entry on Israel's official website listed his birthdate and current position, with no mention of his death.
Netanyahu remains Prime Minister of Israel
The evidence showed that Benjamin Netanyahu had not been killed in a drone strike.
He remained in office as Prime Minister of Israel, and no credible reports supported the claim of his death.
The viral post was therefore misleading, spreading false information about a sitting world leader.
Verdict: False - Benjamin Netanyahu was not killed in a drone strike. He is alive and serving as the Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the claim.
Source: Original
Who is Benjamin Netanyahu?
According to Israel government, Benjamin Netanyahu was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv and grew up in Jerusalem. His high school years were spent in the United States, where his father, the historian Benzion Netanyahu, taught and conducted historical research.
Returning to Israel in 1967, Netanyahu enlisted in the Israeli Defence Force and served as a soldier and officer in Sayeret Matkal, a special unit of the Israeli army. He took part in several operations, including the rescue of hostages in a hijacked Sabena aeroplane in 1972.
In the same year, he was cited for outstanding operational command by General Mordechai Gur, Chief of Israel’s Northern Command. After his discharge from the IDF in 1972, Netanyahu served in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and was promoted to the rank of captain in the Reserves.
Netanyahu received a B.Sc. degree in Architecture and an M.Sc. in Business Management from MIT. He also studied political science at MIT and at Harvard University.
Between 1976 and 1982, he worked in the private sector, first with the Boston Consulting Group, an international business consultancy, and then as Marketing Director of Rim Industries in Jerusalem, an industrialised furniture manufacturer.
Last post of Iran's supreme leader emerges
Legit.ng earlier reported that hours before Iran’s state television confirmed the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, US President Donald Trump had announced on his Truth Social that the cleric had been killed.
He described Khamenei as 'one of the most evil people in history' and said he had been tracked using 'highly sophisticated tracking systems', calling the strike a chance for Iranians to take back their country.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
