- A cafe in Jerusalem was visited by Prime Minister Netanyahu two days ago for coffee
- Speculation and fake news about Netanyahu's safety have spread on social media
- Sataf Cafe remains open with normal activity and no signs of disruption or lockdowns
A cafe in Israel's Jerusalem has become a subject of intense speculation on social media in connection with the whereabouts of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
To see what's this all about, NDTV visited Jerusalem's Sataf Cafe, the same location where Netanyahu came two days ago to have a cup of coffee.
The Israeli prime minister's visit has since become the subject of intense speculation, misinformation and outright fake news, raising questions about his safety and even claims of assassination.
On the ground, the facts are straightforward. This is the cafe, the location is intact, and the area is calm.
Sadaf Cafe sits in a hilly stretch of Jerusalem, surrounded by a wild trail and open terrain. Locals continue to come and go while normal activity persists. There is no sign of any disruption, and the cafe's signage is clearly visible - the premises remain open.
Cafe, Residents Confirm Netanyahu's Visit
Though nearby residents and staff at the cafe declined to speak at length about the prime minister's visit, they confirmed that Netanyahu came to the area and also stopped here for coffee.
These comments align with two videos that surfaced on social media - one showing Netanyahu seated with a cup of coffee, and another showing him talking to Israel Defence Force (IDF) personnel in the same area.
These visuals emerged amid a surge of disinformation, much of it originating from accounts in Pakistan, Iran, and some pockets in India, falsely suggesting that the Israeli prime minister had been killed or incapacitated.
But the facts on the ground show those claims do not hold.
Netanyahu continues to coordinate Israel's military campaign, now in the third week, involving active fronts against Hezbollah in Lebanon and battles with Iran. NDTV saw that Jerusalem's ground reality is very different from what's being passed around with digital noise. There are no lockdowns or security cordons. People are living normally.
Iran's Top Leader Killed
Amid the social media chatter over Netanyahu, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz today said Iran's powerful national security chief Ali Larijani was "eliminated last night", along with the commander of the Islamic republic's Basij paramilitary force.
The killing of Larijani, if confirmed by Tehran, would represent the highest-profile assassination since Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior figures were killed during the wave of US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28.
Katz said in a televised statement that he had been informed by Israel's military chief that Larijani and the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary force Gholamreza Soleimani "were eliminated last night".
He said the two leaders "have joined Khamenei, the head of the annihilation programme, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell."
