Iran’s former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Israeli Prime Minister had been planning and preparing to go to war with each other for the last 20 years.
Last week, on February 28, 2026, Khamenei was killed in a combined United States-Israeli airstrike, beginning a war with Iran. Following this attack, Iran launched their own strikes at Israel, U.S. bases in the region, and civilian infrastructure in the Gulf States, which aligned themselves with the U.S.
Now, some are claiming that Benjamin Netanyahu and his brother were hit and killed in an Iranian strike. Among those to publish these claims on Wednesday, March 10, was the outlet Tasnim News Agency. They also claimed Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir was injured in the blast.
One of their sources was former U.S. Intelligence Officer Scott Ritter, in the claim that Iran had struck Netanyahu’s house and killed his brother.
Israeli sources in both government and media, however, categorically reject these claims. For instance, on March 13, the Jerusalem Post argued that Tasnim News is tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s armed forces wing. They also claim Officer Ritter was working with Russian propagandists.
Since then, a video has been released of Netanyahu speaking to his people about the war, but critics argue the date these were created is unverified, and they may be edited with AI. Due to increased security concerns, he has not made any public appearances to dispel the rumors.
Reports remain inconclusive to this day.
Netanyahu’s Philosophy of War
Like Ayatollah Khamenei, Benjamin Netanyahu knew this war was an inevitability and spent the latter half of his career preparing for it and planning how to come out on top.
As early as 1992, when Netanyahu was 42 years old and early in his career, he warned Israel’s Knesset that “Within three to five years, we can assume that Iran will become autonomous in its ability to develop and produce a nuclear bomb.”
The Impact of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Beliefs On Israel’s War against the Axis of Resistance
These claims weren’t enough to start a war at the time, but they were in 2025 and 2026 when the exact same story was used to justify strikes by Israel and the U.S. against Iran.
Netanyahu also defended the Greater Israel Project, a vision for the future which would see Israel claim control over all of its neighboring Arab land. On an Israeli broadcast in August 2025, in defense of the idea, he said: “There are generations of Jews that dreamt of coming here and generations of Jews who will come after us.”
Greater Israel Project, which would claim all of Palestine, all of Jordan, most of Syria, most of Iraq, and sizable sections of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
As of mid-March 2026, the conflict remains ongoing despite Israel and the United States hoping they could end it in one fell swoop by eliminating Khamenei. Both sides are continuing to exchange fire, and the casualties are starting to mount.
When asked why the U.S. became involved in this war, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted they were dragged into the conflict by Israel, stating:
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action…We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them, we would suffer higher casualties.”
Whether or not Netanyahu is dead or just under tighter security, it’s clear he wanted this war to happen and was one of the main driving forces behind it. Now it’s not just him or Khamenei who will pay the price, it’s all of us, the citizens of Iran, Israel, the United States, and the world.
