Hezbollah launched an explosive drone from Lebanon toward the house of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Caesarea on Saturday.
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were not home at the time of the attack and no casualties were reported, the prime minister’s office said in a statement. It was unclear whether the home suffered major damage. The attack marks the first time since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas that a location affiliated with Netanyahu has been targeted.
Hezbollah launched three drones that crossed into Israeli airspace, the Israel Defense Forces said. Two were intercepted by Israeli attack helicopters, while the last struck Netanyahu’s private residence. The military said it was investigating the incident for potential failures of Israel’s warning system, the Times of Israel reported.
The Lebanon-based terrorist group also fired at least 100 rockets toward northern Israel late Friday into early Saturday. Warning sirens blared across the targeted region, although no sirens were triggered in the coastal town of Caesarea ahead of the drone explosion.
The news comes two days after Israel confirmed the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 massacre last year. Israeli soldiers killed three terrorists during a military operation in Gaza on Wednesday, not realizing at first that one of the bodies looked very much like Sinwar. His body was tested for DNA and fingerprints, which came back positive.
The Israeli military and several officials then confirmed Sinwar’s killing on Thursday. An autopsy later revealed that Sinwar died from a gunshot wound to the head. Following the top Hamas leader’s death, Hezbollah vowed to escalate its fight against Israel.
In a pair of video statements released Saturday, Netanyahu promised “nothing will deter” him and that Israel is “going to win this war.” He did not directly mention the drone attack that targeted his home. One of the videos was posted in Hebrew, and the other was posted in English.
“Two days ago, we took out Yahya Sinwar, the terrorist mastermind, whose goons beheaded our men, raped our women, and burned babies alive,” the prime minister said in English. “We took him out, and we’re continuing our battle with Iran’s other terrorist proxies.”