Israel’s Netanyahu: Attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate me is ‘a grave mistake’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran-backed group Hezbollah of trying to kill him on Saturday, after his office said a drone from Lebanon hit the premier’s family home.

The drone attack, which Hezbollah has not commented on, came as Israel and the Lebanese group were locked in fierce fighting and after a series of Israeli killings of Iran-backed militant leaders, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and most recently Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar.

“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Addressing “Iran and its proxies,” Netanyahu vowed that “anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price.”

“Israel is determined to achieve all our war objectives and change the security reality in our region for generations to come.”

His office earlier said the Netanyahus were not at home and reported no injuries in the drone attack.

Iran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, have been drawn into the Israel-Hamas war which has raged in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Tehran has launched two direct attacks on arch-foe Israel during the war, most recently a missile barrage on October 1 for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Saturday’s drone attack reported by Netanyahu’s office “exposed” the Islamic republic’s “true face.”

In a post on social media platform X, Katz accused Iran of leading an “evil axis” of regional proxies.

The Israeli military earlier said a drone from Lebanon had “hit a structure” in the coastal town of Caesarea, where Netanyahu lives, without specifying whether it was the prime minister’s home.