Video shows damage to Netanyahu’s beach house as Hezbollah claims drone attack
By Irene Nasser and Isaac Yee, CNN
(CNN) — The beachside home of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was damaged in a drone strike claimed by Hezbollah, video footage geolocated by CNN shows, in an attack that penetrated deep inside Israel even as the militant group reels from sustained Israeli bombardment.
Netanyahu and his wife were not at home at the time of Saturday’s attack in the coastal city of Caesarea and no-one was injured, according to Israeli officials.
But the incident has raised questions about how the drone evaded Israel’s air defenses even after Hezbollah’s leadership has been decimated and as Israel’s military ramps up strikes across swathes of Lebanon.
CNN affiliate Kan 11 published an exterior photo of the house showing damage to a window with cracks and what appears to be burn marks. Kan 11 reported that the damaged window was that of a bedroom.
“Allowed for publication: the UAV that Hezbollah launched and hit the Prime Minister’s house in Caesarea,” the caption of the photo shared by the reporter reads.
Video geolocated by CNN shows the same scene of the exterior window in what seems to be the backyard of the house.
The Israeli military on Saturday said “three UAVs were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Two of the UAVs were intercepted. One additional UAV hit a structure in the area of Caesarea.”
The Israeli prime minister’s spokesperson confirmed the attack that day, but it was not until Tuesday that Israeli authorities admitted the drone had hit the house.
Hezbollah claimed “full and exclusive responsibility” on Tuesday for the attack, and issued a warning: “If we haven’t reached you yet, know that between us and you are the days, the nights, and the battlefield.”
In a post on X following the attack on Saturday, Netanyahu blamed “agents of Iran” for the strike, and said they “made a bitter mistake.”
“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,” Netanyahu added.
Iran denied involvement in the drone attack, stating the operation was “carried out by Hezbollah.”
Drones have proved something of a low-tech but deadly menace to Israel.
The country’s air defense systems are impressive, intercepting and destroying most projectiles fired towards the country. But they have been designed and developed primarily to counter rockets and missiles, not drones that can be launched from anywhere, fly low and slow, and change direction quickly.
A deadly attack by Hezbollah earlier in October killed four soldiers in a military base some 40 miles into Israel from the border.
In July, a drone launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen killed one man and injured at least 10 others in Tel Aviv. No sirens were activated during that attack. The IDF said two drones were fired and that while one was intercepted, the other was not – due to what it said was a human error.
The attack on Netanyahu’s house comes at a time of a widening regional conflagration in the Middle East. Israel still has not carried out its expected response to Iran for a ballistic missile attack earlier this month and is continuing its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The incident also comes as the US is investigating a leak of highly classified US intelligence about Israel’s plans for retaliation against Iran following an October 1 Iranian missile barrage targeting Israel.
CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting.
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