Drone launched at Benjamin Netanyahu's home in central Israel



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A drone was launched at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in the central town of Caesarea on Saturday, his spokesman said, but he was not at home and there were no casualties in the attack.

“A UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] was launched toward the Prime Minister's residence in Caesarea. The Prime Minister and his wife were not at the location, and there were no injuries in the incident,” Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The Israeli military had earlier reported that a drone launched from Lebanon had hit a building, without providing further details. It was unclear whether the structure hit was Mr Netanyahu's home. Two other drones that crossed into Israeli territory were intercepted, it added.

The Israeli army said more than 60 projectiles were launched and most of them were intercepted as sirens also sounded in Haifa, Nahariya, Ras Naqoura and other settlements in northern Israel. Israeli media reported that at least nine people were injured from shrapnel in the Haifa area. Footage from the scene also showed damaged cars and residential buildings.

A man in his 50s who had been critically injured in a rocket attack near Acre was killed after being severely injured, Israeli media said, citing medics.

Later on Saturday, the Israeli military launched air strikes on the Haret Hreik neighbourhood in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh. Another strike hit a residential building in the town of Baaloul, killing four, the official National News Agency reports, adding that the dead include Haidar Shahla, the mayor of the nearby town of Sohmor.

Hezbollah said its fighters fired a barrage of rockets at north of the Israeli city of Haifa on Saturday, "in defence of Lebanon and support of Palestinian people in Gaza." It did not comment on the drone targeting Mr Netanyahu's home.

The drone attack was not claimed by Lebanese group Hezbollah, nor by any other militant group. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since October last year but Israeli attacks on Lebanon have intensified over the past two months, culminating in a ground invasion of the south of the country.

Hezbollah on Friday said it was entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli forces. A day earlier, Mr Netanyahu had vowed to keep up Israel's war which has expanded from fighting Hamas in Gaza to pursuing Hezbollah in Lebanon.

His remarks came after Israel announced it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Mr Sinwar's death would not halt the resistance against Israel and the group “will stay alive”.

“The loss of Yahya Sinwar is painful for the Resistance Front. But this front didn’t halt its progress in the wake of the martyrdoms of eminent figures. Similarly, it won’t falter with Sinwar’s martyrdom either,” Mr Khamenei said on X. “Hamas is alive and will stay alive.”

Lebanon's Health Ministry on Saturday said at least two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a car in Jounieh, north of Beirut. This would mark the first Israeli attack on the area in the recent escalation. It lies on one of the country's most vital highways, used by many fleeing from the south towards the capital and cities in the north.

The official National News Agency said a man and his wife were killed in the drone strike. Videos posted on social media show the couple trying to run away from the car when they were struck.

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Updated: October 19, 2024, 1:02 PM