A day after it was claimed that Naftali Bennett, the former Prime Minister of Israel, was killed in an Iranian air strike, a similar report has started doing the rounds on social media. As in the case of the settlement hardliner Bennett, the new claims are also baseless and not founded on verifiable facts.
FULL STORY | 'Zionist Naftali Bennett killed' in overnight Iranian missile strikes on Israel?
It is Israel Defence Forces (IDF) General Yaron Finkelman who is now claimed to have been killed by Iranian missiles. Pro-Iranian social media handles, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), claimed he was struck on Thursday morning and that the celebrated military figure died on the spot.
"Major General Yaron Finkelman missiled this morning. Died instantly..." one such viral post on X read. Most people sharing the claim included footage of an Israeli ambulance being operational at night with a crowd around it.
Who is General Yaron Finkelman?
An important IDF General whose decisions can directly impact the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and Rafah, Finkelman is reportedly ranked among the most experienced and battle-hardened field commanders in Israel.
According to available information, he has held several key positions within the IDF, particularly in operational and command roles.
What we know so far
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When Google News was explored, Yaron Finkelman-related stories last featured prominently in November 2025, when heads rolled in the Israeli military as a consequence of the failure to anticipate the 7 October attacks. These stories mentioned how General Yaron Finkelman stepped down following the massacre by Hamas across Israeli settlements. Finkelman commanded the Southern Command during the massacre and had led the Operations Division months earlier.
When asked to clarify the authenticity of the brief videos shared alongside the claim of his killing, X's AI chatbot, Grok, ruled the claim as false. "No, this claim is false. Yaron Finkelman, former IDF Southern Command chief, resigned in Jan 2025 over Oct 7 failures and was dismissed from reserves in Nov 2025. No credible news reports his death or any missile strike today. The photo is his old portrait; the video is unrelated nighttime footage of a crowd around an Israeli ambulance—not a strike. This is fabricated," the response read.
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Israeli media operates with democratic freedoms and would not ignore the passing of a senior military figure. US media could not ignore such a development either, as things stand. Thus, as in the case of Naftali Bennett, it is safe to conclude that the claims regarding Finkelman are news planted by pro-Tehran social media handles. There is no evidence to establish that either of them was targeted, hit, or killed in the latest wave of Iranian air strikes against Israel.