Defense Minister Israel Katz says that Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, “can no longer be allowed to exist.” Previous media reports suggested that US President Donald Trump blocked an Israeli plan to assassinate him.
Israel launched airstrikes last Friday targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and carried out targeted killings of senior military officials. The attacks elicited an Iranian response and the two countries have traded blows since.
Katz made the statement following a missile strike that reportedly seriously damaged Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, a major city in southern Israel. Shlomi Codish, the hospital’s director general, said the missile hit an old building that had been evacuated.
“There is widespread damage to other buildings at the hospital. All patients and all staff were in shelters,” Codish said. “The several injured we have are lightly hurt, mostly from the blast shockwave.”
Katz claimed Khamenei was personally ordering strikes on hospitals, which he asserted justified calling for the Iranian leader’s death. He also accused Khamenei of seeking Israel’s destruction.
Iranian media, however, reported that the intended target was an Israeli military intelligence facility located in the Gav-Yam Negev Advanced Technologies Park, about 1.3km from the hospital.
Reports from several Western outlets last week stated that Israel had consulted the US about a plan to assassinate Khamenei prior to the latest escalation. According to Axios, Trump rejected the idea, with US officials telling Israel, “The Iranians haven’t killed an American and discussion of killing political leaders should not be on the table.”
In a Fox News interview on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran had tried to assassinate Trump twice and still considered him a target due to his firm stance against Tehran.
The US authorities accused two individuals, one of them posthumously, in two separate cases of trying to assassinate Trump on his 2024 campaign trails, but linked neither to Tehran. US officials also claimed that Iran conspired with people in the US to kill Trump before his second election victory, which Tehran denied.
Trump threatened Khamenei this week, stating on social media that he is “an easy target, but is safe” because “we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.” He also demanded unconditional surrender from Iran.
