Hezbollah Kamikaze Drone Targets Netanyahu’s Private Residence

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home has been targeted in a drone attack sent from Hezbollah in Lebanon on Saturday. It happened at this private residence in Caesarea, north of Tel Aviv.

A Netanyahu spokesperson confirmed that the drone struck near the residence, but the prime minister and his family were not home at the time of the attack, with details of the damage not disclosed. Remarkably, the inbound drone was captured on video, traveling close in proximity to an Israeli military helicopter, which may have been tracking and trying to shoot it down.

תיעוד שמעלה הרבה שאלות ותהיות הבוקר: מסוק קרב של חיל האוויר במרדף אחרי כטב”ם חיזבאללה. בתיעוד הזה נראה שהכטב”ם עוקף אבל יש גם אשליה אופטית וזווית צילום- בכל מקרה, מתוך שלושה כטבמים ששוגרו מלבנון, אחד פגע ישירות במבנה בקסריה pic.twitter.com/zx9fr812BG

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) October 19, 2024

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) indicated that the drone was one of three launched from Lebanon, with the other two having been intercepted.

The fact that the Kamikaze UAV made it all the way to the prime minister’s residence has raised questions over the country’s defense and warning system. The Times of Israel reports:

The short statement from Netanyahu’s office came after the IDF said that “a building had been hit” in the upscale town famous for its swanky villas and Roman ruins and amphitheater.

“No warning sirens were sounded in Caesarea ahead of the drone impact and explosion,” the same report notes. “Footage posted to social media appeared to show attack helicopters in the air that were apparently hunting the drone further to the north.”

Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli army have shared the following additional details, via Al Jazeera:

The drone was launched from Lebanon and directly hit the PM’s house in Caesarea.
Police arrived to locate the scene of the attack. At about the same time, sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
Two other drones launched at the same time were reportedly intercepted.
The incident triggered alarms in the Glilot military base, but the military later determined that drones were not in that area.

Additionally, the drone flew a significant distance of 70km from Lebanon, which suggests Hezbollah is greatly deepening the reach of its projectiles, as it vowed to do following constant IDF airstrikes on Beirut and amid the expanded IDF ground operation inside south Lebanon.

Within hours after the drone attack on his home Netanyahu issued a defiant video on social media vowing that “nothing will deter” him while declaring that Israel is “going to win this war.” He further said that slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, killed by the army in Rafah this week, was “the terrorist mastermind whose goons beheaded our men, raped our women and burned babies alive.”

The below photo purporting to show damage to the outside of Netanyahu’s Caesarea residence (or possibly a building near it) has widely circulated online:

One of Hezbollah’s kamikaze drones hit the wall of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea. He wasn’t home. pic.twitter.com/DlQlWm35EA

— Mike (@Doranimated) October 19, 2024

“We took him out,” the Israeli leader said. He added: “We’re continuing our battle with Iran’s other terrorist proxies.” The region is still bracing for a possible major Israeli attack on Iran, in retaliation for the ballistic missile attack launched on Israel by the Islamic Republic on October 1st.