Israeli Defense Minister: Ayatollah 'Cannot Continue to Exist'

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "cannot continue to exist." Katz spoke after the latest wave of Iranian missiles struck a hospital and wounded at least 40 people, reports the AP. "A dictator like Khamenei, who heads a country like Iran and has made the destruction of Israel his mission, cannot continue to exist," Katz said. "The IDF has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist." Katz took it a step further from there, notes the Times of Israel:

• "I compare it to the scenario in which, during the horrific Holocaust, if the State of Israel had existed and a strong Israel Defense Forces had existed, and we knew we could send the IDF into a bunker to capture the enemy of the Jewish people, Hitler, in order to thwart his plan to annihilate the Jews, we would have done it," he says. "We would have sent the IDF, extracted him, and eliminated him. And just like that, correspondingly, I see the current situation—Khamenei is the modern Hitler."

(A new report says President Trump has approved a plan to kill Khamenei but is holding off for now.)