(Bloomberg) -- Drones launched from Lebanon targeted the weekend home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a coastal town north of Tel Aviv as Hezbollah unleashed an unusually intense barrage of projectiles against its southern neighbor.
Neither Netanyahu nor his wife, Sara, were present at the residence, and there were no casualties there, according to a statement from his office on Saturday. Netanyahu called the attack an assassination attempt and “a grave mistake.”
The massive launch of rockets and drones from Lebanon came two days after Israel announced the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack against Israel last year. Since then, Israel has been engaged in a multifront conflict with both Hamas and Hezbollah — the Iran-backed militant groups designated as terrorist organizations by the US.
Iran pointedly denied it had any responsibility in Saturday’s attack — and its mission to the United Nations blamed Hezbollah. The nation’s foreign ministry separately dismissed any claims of involvement as “lies” and “spreading falsehoods.”
Iran is bracing for an Israeli reprisal after Tehran fired about 200 ballistic missiles against Israel earlier this month.
On Saturday, three drones were launched toward Israel in the area in and around Caesarea, the military said, adding that two were intercepted while the third struck a structure without causing casualties. The Israel Defense Forces said the drones that made it to Caesarea were part of about 180 projectiles fired from Lebanon toward the Central and Upper Galilee, which includes the coastal city of Haifa. At least one person was killed and multiple others wounded.
No organization claimed responsibility for the attack on Netanyahu’s home but Hezbollah issued a statement saying it launched a “major rocket attack” on the bay area stretching between the northern Israel cities of Acre and Haifa known as the Krayot.
It said it carried out the attack “to defend Lebanon and its people and avenge the Israeli enemy’s repeated aggressions against the southern villages” in Lebanon.
Following Saturday’s attacks, Israeli media outlets released a video of Netanyahu saying: “We’re continuing our battle with Iran’s other terrorist proxies, we’re going to win this war.”
The attack happened on a Sabbath during a Jewish holiday known as Sukkot and came about a month after Israel launched a major offensive against Hezbollah inside Lebanon — almost wiping out its entire top leadership including the group’s head Hassan Nasrallah and launching a major land campaign.
Israel’s offensive has led to the destruction of large swaths of southern Lebanon, the deaths of hundreds of people as well as displacement of more than a million others. A number of Israelis have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced by Hezbollah’s attacks since Oct. 8, 2023.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 42,500, according to Hamas authorities. More than 50 people were killed in less than 24 hours after Israeli strikes there, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Some military analysts say that without Iran’s support, the significantly weakened Hezbollah wouldn’t have been able to carry out the attack on Saturday, including the targeting of Netanyahu’s home.
Not only are the drones Iranian-made but Tehran’s satellite surveillance has enabled Hezbollah to fly them deeper into Israel, said Riad Kahwaji, who heads the United Arab Emirates-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.
“Hezbollah has improved in picking flight plans to breach Israeli defenses,” he said, pointing to the drone strike against a military base south of Haifa last week that killed four Israeli soldiers.
Kahwaji said the latest attack was an attempt to “boost morale” and show that Hezbollah can reach any place in Israel.
It “will not change facts on the ground as Hezbollah remains under a fierce offensive by Israeli forces,” he added.
--With assistance from Marissa Newman and Arsalan Shahla.
(Updates with comments from Netanyahu and Iran, starting in the second paragraph.)
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