A DEADLY drone strike targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s family residence was launched from Lebanon this morning.
One of the buildings close to the Israeli leader’s home was struck by the drone strike, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed.
ReutersA member of Israeli security personnel stands at the entrance to a street, following a drone attack from Lebanon towards Israel[/caption]
TwitterUnverified footage posted to social media on October 19 purports to show an Israeli chopper engaging a drone launched from Lebanon[/caption]
ReutersIsraeli PM Netanyahu’s home was targeted in a drone attack[/caption]
There were no casualties reported, according to the Israeli ambulance service.
It is understood that three drones entered Israeli airspace this morning, with two being reportedly shot down by the country’s defence forces.
But one of them managed to hit a building in Caesarea – extremely close to Netanyahu’s vacation home.
The IDF said: “One additional UAV hit a structure in the area of Caesarea. No injuries were reported.”
Netanyahu owns a holiday home in Caesarea, which is an affluent resort town in the centre of the country.
It is still not clear if the drone attack was launched by Iran-backed Hezbollah which has been at war with Israel since last October.
Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire almost daily since the war in Gaza began – and fighting has escalated in recent weeks.
Just last week, four Israeli soldiers were killed in a deadly Hezbollah drone strike on an army base.
Sergeant Omri Tamari, Sergeant Yosef Hieb, Sergeant Yoav Agmon and Sergeant Alon Amitay, all 19, died in the attack near Binyamina in central Israel.
Hezbollah said it had targeted a base belonging to the IDF’s Golani Brigade with a “swarm of drones“.
It was the deadliest strike by the terror group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.
Israel’s military said 61 were wounded – with seven severely injured.
The drone strike hit a packed dining hall inside the base, according to local reports.
According to the Times of Israel, Hezbollah launched two “Misrad” drones into Israeli airspace from the sea.
The Alma Center, an Israeli research institute, said the drone has a 120-kilometre assault range and a top speed of 370 kilometres per hour.
It can carry up to 40 kilograms of explosives, and the ability to fly up to 3,000 metres, the institute says.
One of the drones was reportedly shot down off the coast, north of Haifa.
Hezbollah threatened more attacks after the night’s strike,
It vowed the attack “in southern Haifa is nothing compared to what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our… people”.
It claimed the strike was a “complex” operation – and said the drone “exploded in the room where dozens of officers and soldiers of the Israeli enemy were present”.
With Israel’s top air defence systems, it is rare for so many people to be injured by drones or missiles.
ISRAEL VS HEZBOLLAH
Israel launched its ground operation in Lebanon earlier this month to weaken Hezbollah and push the terror group away from the border to allow displaced Israelis to return.
Earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised that Israel would never let Hezbollah regroup along the Lebanon border.
He said: “These are military targets containing underground tunnels and weapon storages.
“Our troops found hundreds of RPGs, munitions, and anti-tank missiles here.
“The IDF is currently destroying these weapons above and under the ground.”
He said he has “instructed the IDF… to ensure that terrorists cannot return to these places”.
The IDF said some 100 Hezbollah operatives have been killed over the last week – and claimed more than 50 Hezbollah rocket launchers and 60 command centres have been destroyed.
But Avraham Levine, an analyst with Israeli think-tank Alma, said it’s likely Hezbollah was “well prepared and waiting” for Israeli troops.
He said: “The fact that the chain of command has been damaged does not take away the ability to shoot Israeli communities or try to hit,” describing Hezbollah as “the same powerful terror army we all know”.
Hezbollah’s deadly strike on the Israeli base came the same day the US said it would send a new air defence system to help bolster protection against missiles.
Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – both Iran-backed militant groups – and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month.
Gallant said Israel will hit Iran in a way that will be “lethal, precise and surprising”.
And Iran has vowed to respond to any Israeli attack – saying it has “no red lines”.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said: “While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”
Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, Israeli air and ground forces have been attacking Jabaliya – where the military says terrorists have regrouped.
Israel has ordered the full evacuation of northern Gaza – including Gaza City.
RexBlack smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburb after Israel conducted strikes targeting Hezbollah’s main bastion[/caption]