KUALA LUMPUR – A drone was launched towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the northern town of Caesarea on Saturday, according to his spokesman.
However, the Prime Minister was not present at the time and there were no casualties, Reuters reported.
The Israeli military confirmed that the drone originated from Lebanon and struck a building, although the specifics of the building were not immediately clear. Two additional drones that entered Israeli airspace were intercepted, the military stated.
According to the Israeli ambulance service and police, there were no injuries reported, although explosions were heard in Caesarea, the coastal town where Netanyahu has a holiday home. The drone attack has not yet been claimed by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group engaged in ongoing conflict with Israel since last October, nor by any other militant group.
The Times of Israel reported that the Prime Minister’s Office verified the drone attack targeting Netanyahu’s private residence. In a brief statement, they confirmed that both Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were not at home during the incident.
The attack coincided with the downing of two other drones fired from Lebanon, which activated air defence systems and triggered sirens in the Tel Aviv area.
This incident follows Israel’s recent announcement of the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks in Gaza have resulted in at least 42,000 deaths and 98,000 injuries.
Earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expressed condolences over Sinwar’s death, condemning the Israeli regime for its actions.
Anwar called for the international community to challenge Israeli brutality and urged for an immediate end to the ongoing massacre of Palestinians.
On Thursday, Hamas confirmed the death of its de facto leader, Yahya Sinwar, in an Israeli strike. This was corroborated by Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, in a statement on the Telegram account of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades.
Israeli forces released footage showing Sinwar seated alone, surrounded by debris after an airstrike. Despite sustaining injuries, he resisted and attempted to throw a piece of wood at the drone searching the building before the video concluded.
Sinwar, 61, became the leader de facto of Hamas in Gaza in 2017 and the de jure leader as head of its political bureau from August 2024 to October 2024 following the July 31 assasination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
Sinwar was born in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, and spent 22 years in Israeli prison before being released in a prisoner exchange in 2011. – October 19, 2024