A drone from Lebanon was launched toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea on Saturday, his spokesman said, adding that the premier was not in the vicinity and there were no casualties.
No warning sirens were sounded in the northern city ahead of the drone impact and explosion.
A diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night that Israel plans to retaliate for the attempted assassination of Netanyahu by Hezbollah, explaining that ultimately Iran is responsible.
The source spoke after a Hezbollah-launched drone hit a building in Caesarea. Israel has claimed that it was fired at Netanyahu’s home in that city, but that neither the prime minister nor his family were home at the time. It has not been confirmed whether the drone actually hit his home.
“Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran, so Iran is also responsible for this incident,” the source stated. “There will be a response to the attempted assassination.”
Israel is already poised to retaliate against the Islamic Republic for its ballistic missile attack on the Jewish state at the start of October.
“I say to the Iranians and their partners in the axis of evil: Anyone who harms the citizens of the State of Israel will pay a heavy price for it,” Netanyahu said on Saturday night.
“The Iranian agents who tried to assassinate me and my wife today made a bitter mistake,” he said.
“This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing the war of revival against our enemies to ensure our security for generations,” he stated.
“We will continue to eliminate your terrorists. We will return our hostages held in Gaza. We will return our residents to the North. We will achieve all the war objectives that we set. And we will change the security reality in our region for generations,” Netanyahu said.
“Together we will fight, and with God’s help – together we will win.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz echoed Netanyahu in a post on X/Twitter, stating, “Israel’s enemies will pay a heavy price for any attempt to harm our citizens, soldiers and leaders. We are committed to bringing back the hostages, returning northern residents to their homes, and creating a new security reality that will guarantee our existence for generations to come.
“I fully support the Prime Minister’s message and stress: the State of Israel will continue to strike with strength and determination at terrorists and their messengers anywhere and at any time, until all our goals are achieved,” Katz wrote.
“The Iranian proxies who attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu and his family today have once again exposed Iran’s true face and the evil axis it leads.”
Reuters contributed to this report.