Multiple AI images circulate, claiming  Netanyahu is dead

Multiple images have spread on social media claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed in an Iranian missile attack. However, Dismislab has identified at least five circulating images that were created using Artificial Intelligence.

Recently, an image of Benjamin Netanyahu was shared on Facebook with the text: “Netanyahu killed in Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s (IRGC) attack.” In the image, the current Prime Minister of Israel is seen trapped under the rubble of a building. Close observations reveal the name of a shop on a building in the background, with the Bangla text: “Cement and Rod.” In front of it is a crowd of several men and women whose clothing is not typical of Israelis.

Another image has spread with the same claim, showing Netanyahu being rescued from under the rubble. An Israeli flag is seen on the helmet of a rescue worker. Comments show many expressing satisfaction at this news.

Furthermore, several images claiming the death of Netanyahu have been posted from a Facebook page named 12 Maya Binodon. Images of him lying in rubble (1, 2) or being rescued were posted from this page. Captions were also seen delivering the news of the death, citing The Jerusalem Post.

The images from this page have been shared from 50 to over 500 times. Hundreds of comments on these posts show people expressing satisfaction at the news. Although the page’s bio states that all their content is not real, many Facebook users are accepting it as real.

After inconsistencies were noticed in the photos, Dismislab used Google Gemini’s AI identification tool “SynthID” for further verification. It concluded that each of the five images was entirely or mostly created or edited using Google’s AI models. Verification using AI content detection tools Hive Moderation and AI or Not also found that all of the images have a high likelihood of being generated by artificial intelligence.

Additionally, no news regarding the death of Benjamin Netanyahu has been published in the Israel-based media outlet. The Jerusalem Post.

Claims have been spreading that Netanyahu’s office was “seriously damaged” in the 10th missile attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on March 2. The Iranian news agency Meher News Agency reported the attack via a post on its X account.

However, in a report published on March 2, The Times of Israel, citing Israeli authorities, stated that there were no casualties in this attack. On the other hand, in several recent video reports (1, 2), Netanyahu was seen visiting a site damaged by Iranian missile strikes.

Dismislab has previously published fact-check reports on multiple AI-generated content regarding the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict.