On 19 October 2024, a drone strike took place on the private residence of

Israeli prime minister The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a president as the head of state. The presiden ...

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

in the town of

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

, Israel. The attack was referred to as an assassination attempt by several news outlets and by Netanyahu himself and was suspected to have been launched from

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. The incident did not result in any injuries, and Netanyahu was not at his home during the attack. This targeting came in the context of ongoing escalation between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

Axis of Resistance The Axis of Resistance is an informal coalition of Iranian-supported militant and political organizations across the Middle East. Formed by Iran, it unites actors committed to countering the influence of the United States and Israel in the regio ...

, including

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

, in light of the ongoing

Israeli–Lebanese conflict The Israeli–Lebanese conflict, or the South Lebanon conflict,G. Rongxing. ''Territorial Disputes and Conflict Management: The Art of Avoiding War''. p71. is a long-running conflict involving Israel, Lebanon-based paramilitary groups, and som ...

Attack

On October 19, 2024, Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea was targeted by one of three drones, believed to have been launched from Lebanon. The attack came amid heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, with several rockets and drones fired toward areas in northern Israel. The attack did not result in any injuries, and Netanyahu was not at his residence at the time. Two other drones launched into the area were intercepted. The drone cracked a bedroom window but failed to penetrate further due to reinforced glass and additional protections, while debris landed on a swimming pool and the yard.

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

reporter Nour Odeh reported that prior to the strike, areas in

northern Israel The Northern District (; ) is one of Israel's six administrative districts. The Northern District has a land area of 4,473 km2, making it the second largest district in Israel. The Golan Heights has been run as a sub-district of the North ...

witnessed several rocket attacks by Hezbollah, and sirens were activated in cities such as

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

and the

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

, which she stated could have acted as decoys prior to the attack on Netanyahu's residence. She reported that sirens had gone off around Caesarea only after the attack on Netanyahu's residence was confirmed.

Responses

Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack an attempted assassination against himself and his wife

Sara Netanyahu Sara Netanyahu (; []; born November 1958) is the spouse of the Prime Minister of Israel, spouse of the prime minister of Israel by marriage to Benjamin Netanyahu, holding the role for her third time. By profession, she is an Educational psycholo ...

conducted by Iranian proxies, stating that they had "made a bitter mistake". He further stated that the attack would not hinder or dissuade Israel from "the war of revival" against Israel's enemies and to ensure Israel's security for generations.

Israeli foreign minister The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; ) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural, and scientific relations with other cou ...

Israel Katz Israel Katz (; born 21 September 1955) is an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for Likud currently serving as Ministry of Defense (Israel), Minister of Defense and a member of the Security Cabinet of Israel. Katz has been recognized ...

also stated that the attack was an assassination attempt against Netanyahu and his family conducted by Iranian proxies, and called the attack another exposure of "Iran’s true face and the evil axis it leads".

Axis of Resistance

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

stated that Hezbollah was responsible for the reported attack, according to the state-run

Islamic Republic News Agency The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA; , ''Xabargozâri-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi'' or ), is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Founded in November 1934 as Pars News Agency during the time of Reza Shah, it is government-fu ...

, which quoted Iran's mission to the UN stating, "The action in question has been carried out by Hezbollah in Lebanon." Hezbollah stated that it had conducted multiple rocket strikes across north and central Israel on the same day of the attack, although it did not explicitly state that it was responsible for the drone attack on Netanyahu's residence. Hezbollah later claimed responsibility for the attack on 22 October 2024. Al Jazeera reporter Nour Odeh called the attack a matter of concern for Israeli security forces, due to the fact that the drone successfully struck its intended target 70 kilometers (43 miles) away from the Lebanese border without triggering any sirens.

International

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...

Lloyd Austin Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star General (United States), general who served as the 28th United States Secretary of Defense, United States secretary of defense from 2021 to 2025. Before ...

, after receiving information regarding the attack from Israel's Minister of Defense

Yoav Gallant Yoav Gallant (; born 8 November 1958) is an Israeli politician and former military officer who served as Ministry of Defense (Israel), minister of defense between 2022 and 2024. Gallant was an officer in the Southern Command (Israel), Southern ...

, was reported to have been "relieved" that Netanyahu survived, and began to review adjustments to United States operations in the Middle East, including the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system to bolster Israeli defense against the Axis of Resistance.

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

Sir Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

held a call with Netanyahu following the attack, expressing alarm at the use of drones.

References