A drone “targeting” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence hit the central town of Caesarea in Israel on Saturday. There were, however, no casualties as he and his wife Sara were not at home, said his office.
According to Times of Israel, the prime minister’s office confirmed the hit and said there were no fatalities. The private residence was targeted earlier this morning, the statement read.
It said Netanyahu and his wife Sara were not home at the time of the attack, and that there were no injuries in the incident. Two other drones fired from Lebanon this morning were downed by air defence, triggering sirens in the Tel Aviv area.
Lebanese authorities, meanwhile, said two people were killed in an Israeli strike in Jounieh, north of Beirut, in the first strike on the area since Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire last year. The health ministry said an “Israeli enemy raid” hit a car in Jounieh, with Lebanese state media saying the attack occurred on a key highway linking the capital to the country’s north.
The drone strike targeting Netanyahu’s residence comes days after Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in a ground raid by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after a year-long manhunt. The architect of the October 7 attacks on Israel, he died from a gunshot to the head while his body was found inside a shell-smashed apartment building in Rafah.
While the death of Sinwar is a significant blow to Hamas, the killing of Israel’s most wanted enemy has been hailed as vindication for Netanyahu. But, he is also under pressure now to end the Gaza war that has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians with another 10,000 uncounted dead thought to be under the rubble.
Israel is also wary of further escalation after a year of war while families of those being held captive want the government to secure their release before things take a turn for the worse.
Netanyahu himself described Sinwar’s death as “the beginning of the end” to a conflict that has spread to Lebanon and Yemen, and said it could end if Hamas lays down its arms and returns the 101 Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza.
(With agency inputs)
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