Sunday saw two Israeli airstrikes on south Beirut following an Israeli army warning residents to leave the hub of the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, according to official media.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the Hezbollah movement, which is supported by Iran, was attempting to kill him by targeting his home, prompting the alleged strikes.
“Enemy (Israeli) airplanes carried out two strikes this morning on Beirut’s southern suburbs, one of them hitting a residential building in Haret Hreik” near a mosque and a hospital, the National News Agency reported.
The Israeli military had earlier sent out a “urgent warning” to residents of the community living close to what it claimed were Hezbollah-affiliated buildings to leave right now.
The Israeli army’s Arabic spokeswoman, Avichay Adraee, stated on Telegram that “you are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, which the IDF (Israeli army) will work against in the near future.”
Netanyahu’s office on Saturday said a drone was launched towards his residence in the central town of Caesarea but he and his wife were not home and there were no injuries.
“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 said Hezbollah, which it arms and finances, was behind the attack on Netanyahu’s residence.
“This action was taken by the Lebanese Hezbollah,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in response to a question about its role in the attack, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
Hezbollah has not claimed the attack.
Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran, its regional arch-foe, for an 1 October missile barrage. Iran has warned it will hit back.
