An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) filled with explosives hit the vacation home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the seaside town of Caesarea on Saturday, Israeli media have reported, citing his office. The drone was reportedly launched by the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement, in the first attack of the conflict aimed at such a high-ranking Israeli target.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said only that “a building had been hit” in Caesarea, adding that a total of three drones had been launched from Lebanon and two others shot down. Video footage has been circulating on social media showing a large aircraft-like drone flying over a helicopter over a city. The footage is said to be linked to Hezbollah’s strike.
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It is unclear if Netanyahu’s house sustained any serious damage but local residents reported a “large explosion” and a “huge, powerful” blast in the area. The prime minister himself and his wife were not at the house at the time of the attack, according to the media.
Netanyahu reacted to the incident by vowing to continue the ongoing conflict and that nothing would deter him from going forward. A video of him giving comments in the wake of the attack was published by some journalists on social media.
Separately, the IDF reported a massive missile barrage by Hezbollah targeting northern Israel on Saturday. Around 55 projectiles were launched by the Lebanon-based movement, the Israeli military said, adding that the strike had caused “hundreds of thousands of Israelis to spend their weekend running to shelter.”
The strikes came a day after the militant group stated that its confrontation with Israel was entering a new phase in the wake of the Jewish State’s military killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this week.
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging sporadic missile strikes ever since West Jerusalem launched its military operation against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza more than a year ago. The campaign was launched in response to a deadly incursion into Israeli territory in October 2023 that claimed the lives of some 1,100 people. More than 200 were taken hostage by Hamas at that time.
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Last month, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah spiraled into a full-blown military confrontation after a series of hand-held pager explosions across Lebanon, followed by massive Israeli airstrikes and a ground operation, albeit limited, in the southern part of the country.