Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Saturday night to an assassination attempt on his wife by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists, calling the decision to go after him and his wife a serious mistake that the group would pay for.
“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” he said. “This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future.”
“I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price,” he continued. “We will continue to eliminate the terrorists and those who dispatch them.”
He said that the attack would not stop Israel from getting the hostages back from Hamas inside Gaza, nor would it stop Israeli citizens from eventually returning to their homes in the northern part of the country.
“Israel is determined to achieve all our war objectives and change the security reality in our region for generations to come,” he added.
Hezbollah launched three drones as part of the attack on Saturday morning. Israeli helicopters managed to shoot down two of the drones, but the third evaded being destroyed.
“The prime minister and his wife were not at the residence at the time of the attack and there were no casualties,” his office said in a statement.
Some reports suggested that the drone hit a building near his home, however, one photo posted online showed damage at a residence that appeared to be his home.
This marks the first time since the current Islamic war against Israel erupted just over a year ago that Netanyahu has been directly targeted, according to Israeli correspondent Barak Ravid.
The attacks come after Hezbollah vowed this week to escalate its war against Israel after Israel terminated the leader of Iranian-backed Hamas terror group, Yahya Sinwar, on the battlefield this week. Sinwar was the mastermind of Hamas’ October 7 attacked in which 1,200 people inside Israel were murdered.
Hezbollah said in a statement that “a transition to a new and escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy, which will be reflected in the developments and events of the coming days.”
Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets in a separate attack on Saturday that wounded at least nine people in northern Israel.
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