Israel PM says Hezbollah tried to ‘assassinate’ him with drone

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran-backed group Hezbollah of trying to kill him on Saturday, after his office said a drone from Lebanon hit the premier’s family home.

The drone attack – which Hezbollah has not acknowledged – came as Israeli troops fight the Lebanese group on the ground in southern Lebanon. It followed a series of Israeli killings of Iran-backed militant leaders, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar.

“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Hezbollah says it will escalate war with Israel after Hamas leader killed

Addressing “Iran and its proxies”, Netanyahu vowed that “anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price”.

He again insisted on achieving “all our war aims” but added that Israel will “change the security reality in our region for generations to come.”

His office earlier said the Netanyahus were not at home and reported no injuries from the drone attack in Caesarea, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Haifa.

The military later said that two of three drones launched from Lebanon were intercepted.

“The third hit a building in Caesarea, while trying to hit the prime minister,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said during an evening briefing.

Iran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, have been drawn into the Israel-Hamas war which has raged in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Tehran has launched two direct attacks on arch-foe Israel during the war, most recently a barrage of 200 missiles, the majority of which were intercepted, on October 1 for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Saturday’s drone attack reported by Netanyahu’s office “exposed” the Islamic republic’s “true face”.

In a post on social media platform X, Katz accused Iran of leading an “evil axis” of regional proxies.

The Israeli military early Saturday had said a drone from Lebanon “hit a structure” in the coastal town of Caesarea, where Netanyahu lives, without specifying whether it was the prime minister’s home.