Last night Israel accused Tehran of an assassination attempt after a drone carrying explosives was launched at Benjamin Netanyahu’s family home.
Neither the Israeli prime minister nor his wife Sara were on the property in the coastal town of Caesarea, between Tel Aviv and Haifa, when the device was launched from Lebanon in the early hours of yesterday.
It is believed to have hit a building near Netanyahu’s large white brick residence. Last night, Netanyahu said: ‘The agents of Iran who tried to assassinate me and my wife today made a bitter mistake.
‘This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing the war against our enemies to take away our security for generations.
“I say to the Iranians and their partners in the axis of evil: anyone who harms the State of Israel will pay a high price for it.”
Last night, Israel accused Tehran of an assassination attempt after a drone carrying explosives was launched into Benjamin Netanyahu’s family home, photographed in a defiant video telling viewers: “I’m proud of you.”
Aftermath of the missile fired from Lebanon towards Haifa on Saturday
It marked a period of intense tensions in the region, with Israeli officials condemning Iran and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, which it backs, for the attempt on Netanyahu’s life.
Israel continued bombing the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza last night, while Lebanese state media reported fresh attacks on a Hezbollah stronghold near Beirut, after the Israel Defense Forces ordered residents to leave the capital city. .
It came two days after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of last year’s Oct. 7 massacre that left 1,200 dead and sparked escalating violence between Israel and Hamas.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday raised a rallying cry following Sinwar’s death, vowing: “Hamas is alive and will remain alive.”
A senior Israeli official blamed Iran for an “(attempt) to assassinate the Prime Minister of Israel,” adding: “The order to launch the drone came directly from Tehran.” It was a large Iranian drone carrying an explosive payload, launched directly at the Prime Minister’s residence in Caesarea.
“This assassination attempt will have consequences that will be felt in Tehran.”
And in a defiant video statement yesterday, Netanyahu said: “Two days ago we eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the terrorist mastermind whose thugs beheaded our men, raped our women and burned babies alive.”
‘We eliminated him and continued our battle with Iran’s other terrorist proxies. We’re going to win this war.’
Iran yesterday announced the strength of its so-called “axis of resistance” against Israel, which includes Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq. The ayatollah insisted that Sinwar’s death “will not stop the axis of resistance” and that Hamas “will continue to live.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei raised a rallying cry yesterday following the death of Yahya Sinwar, vowing: “Hamas is alive and will remain alive.”
At least 50 people, including children, are believed to have been killed yesterday as Israel continued to bomb Gaza. The deadliest attacks occurred in the northern city of Jabalia, where more than 30 people were killed and at least eight wounded in an overnight offensive.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli strikes had also reached the upper floors of the Indonesian Hospital in nearby Beit Lahiya.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer this weekend called on the international community to “make the most” of Sinwar’s death and renew the push for peace.
Like his American, French and German counterparts, Starmer said the leader’s death offered an “opportunity” to intensify ceasefire talks that have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.
