BENJAMIN Netanyahu has brushed off rumours that he had been assassinated, joking in a video filmed at a coffee shop.
The Israeli prime minister made light of claims had been killed by Iran, posting footage of himself buying a drink and casually chatting with customers.
“They say I’m what?” Netanyahu said.
“I think coffee is to die for, I think my nation is to die for.”
The rumours began circulating earlier this week after online sleuths claimed they spotted him with six fingers during a speech.
Some suggested the footage must have been artificially generated – and that the real Netanyahu had been assassinated.
This outlandish belief was quickly put to bed when he showed he had five fingers on both hands.
Netanyahu also briefly spoke with other customers about the ongoing conflict with Iran.
“We are doing things that I cannot share at this moment, but we are doing things,” Netanyahu said.
“We are hitting Iran very hard, even on this day, and in Lebanon, we are continuing.”
Turning back to his drink, he joked: ““Thank you for the coffee. It is excellent.
“I don’t know about the calories. It seems very dangerous to me.”
Iran has long been accused of plotting to assassinate both Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.
Amid the online speculation that Netanyahu had already been killed, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a fresh threat against him.
“IRGC vows to pursue and kill ‘child-killer’ Netanyahu if he is still alive,” an Iranian state media headline read on Sunday.
The comments come as Israel and the United States continue a joint bombing campaign against Iran.
Israel has also struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group designated as a terrorist organisation by the US.
Iran has retaliated by firing missiles at Israel, some of which have penetrated the country’s sophisticated air defence systems.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces have reportedly killed several senior Iranian officials in targeted strikes.
Reports also suggest Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with the help of US intelligence.
The late ayatollah’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been named Iran’s new leader, although questions remain about his condition after claims he may also have been wounded or killed in an airstrike.
US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told CNN on Sunday: “It’s unclear that he really has control of the country, if he’s even alive at this point.”
Iranian officials, however, insist he is alive and well.
