Hezbollah claims drone assault on Netanyahu’s house

Hezbollah has claimed ‘full and sole responsibility’ for a drone attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin’s home late last week.

‘Hezbollah takes the full and sole responsibility for targeting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s house,’ Mohammad Afif, the head of the militant group’ media office, told a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Israel said a drone smashed into Netanyahu’s holiday home in Caesarea on Saturday. Netanyahu was not there at the time, and the government reported no injuries.

The strike was reported to have hit the prime minister’s bedroom window, leaving damage to the exterior of the house, according to Israeli outlet Ynet.

The Israeli premier described it as an assassination attempt by ‘Iran‘s proxy Hezbollah’ and called it a ‘grave mistake’.

Hezbollah said today that there would be no negotiations while fighting continues, and held Israel responsible for the wellbeing of the group’s fighters who had been captured.

Benjamin Netanyahu was the target of an attack by Hezbollah last week, the group confirmed

Damage purportedly to the side of Netanyahu’s summer home following a drone attack

A UAV spotted amid Saturday’s assassination attempt on Israeli prime minister Netanyahu

Afif also acknowledged that some of the group’s fighters were captured by the Israeli army without giving numbers.

‘On the issue of captives currently held by the enemy, I say: I know that the enemy is not committed to the ethics of war and international conventions but it bears the responsibility of preserving the lives of the captives,’ he said.

Previously, the Israeli army said it has captured a total of four Hezbollah fighters since the start of its ground offensive in Lebanon, and released video footage it said showed one of them answering questions.

An Israeli strike hit a target hundreds of metres away from the site of the conference in Beirut just minutes after journalists left, an AFP video journalist said. 

Hezbollah, primarily based out of southern Lebanon, has been trading fire with Israel since October 8 in support of Hamas‘ war effort.

Saturday’s drone attack in the town of Caesarea was the first known attempt on the life of Netanyahu since the war began, and came days after Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in Gaza.

It is understood three unmanned aerial vehicles were used in the attack, which struck the prime minister’s bedroom window.

Photos showed minimal damage to the window, and a scorch mark on a nearby wall.

Israel has increased security for ministers and government officials since the attack. 

Netanyahu warned in the wake of the attack that ‘the agents of Iran’ he attributed the attack to had ‘made a bitter mistake’.

‘This will not deter me and the State of Israel from continuing the war of revival against our enemies to ensure our security for generations,’ he said. 

Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said at the time the attack had shown the ‘true face’ of Iran, which has provided support to Hezbollah.

‘The Iranian proxies who attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu and his family today have once again exposed Iran’s true face and the evil axis it leads,’ he wrote on Saturday.

Israeli media reports Hezbollah were targeting the prime minister’s bedroom

Mohammad Afif, head of Hezbollah’s media office, in Beirut on October 14

Officials increase security measures after a drone, launched from Lebanon, struck the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Nearly a month of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed at least 1,489 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.

It has displaced more than a million people, according to Lebanese authorities, with thousands crossing the border to neighbouring Syria.

American Secretary-of-State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel today with hopes of hashing out peace terms between Israel and Hamas to end the conflict.

It marks the Secretary of State’s eleventh visit to the region since the October 7 attacks. 

Blinken landed in Tel Aviv only hours after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the country’s most populated areas.