In a move that further alarmed the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Saturday that Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, was attempting to kill him. Israel had pledged reprisal for an Iranian missile barrage.
At least 73 individuals were killed in an Israeli hit in north Gaza late on Saturday, according to a Gaza official, and many more are thought to be trapped under the debris. Israel declared that it had struck a “Hamas target”.
According to Netanyahu’s office, a drone was fired towards his home in the central town of Caesarea, but neither he nor his wife were inside and no casualties were reported.
“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price,” he said in comments directed at Tehran and “its proxies”, which include Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a group Israel has been at war with since late September.
Iran’s financed and armed militia in Lebanon refused to comment on the attack until late on Saturday, when Iran’s UN envoy said that “this action was taken” by Hezbollah.
According to Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a drone “hit a building in Caesarea, while trying to hit the prime minister”.
About 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the south of the Haifa metropolitan region, Caesarea has been a frequent target for Hezbollah. A 20-year-old inhabitant of Caesarea named Ofek Mor claimed to feel “unsafe like I’ve never felt before in Israel”.
