Israel vows Iran will ‘pay’ for Hezbollah attack on Netanyahu home; Tehran distances itself

FM Katz rejects Islamic Republic portrayal of drone attack on Caesarea residence as solely the work of its Lebanese proxy: ‘You’re responsible’; Knesset speaker: ‘They’ll be sorry’

By Sam Sokol

October 21, 2024

Israeli politicians aimed their rhetoric in Iran’s direction on Saturday evening, vowing Tehran would “pay a price” for a drone attack by Tehran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah that targeted the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the Islamic Republic sought to downplay its ties to what the premier’s office has said was an attempted assassination.

Three drones were launched from Lebanon in the attack targeting the prime minister’s private residence on Saturday morning.

Two were intercepted over Rosh Hanikra and Nahariya, but the third exploded in the central seaside town of Caesarea, known for its high-end villas and Roman ruins.

The premier and his wife were not home at the time of the attack.

An Axios report said that the drone hit the prime minister’s house. “This is the first time since the beginning of the war that a target affiliated directly with Netanyahu has been hit,” it reported, without elaboration.

The Guardian also said the house was hit and sustained “superficial damage.”

The Kan public broadcaster reported that property tax officials and a gardener had visited Netanyahu’s home after the attack.

After initially confirming that his home had been the target of the drone strike, Netanyahu said in a follow-up statement later on Saturday that “the agents of Iran who tried to assassinate me and my wife today made a bitter mistake.”

His words were echoed by many of his government ministers and opposition lawmakers, as well as allies further afield, many of whom warned that Iran would be made to regret the actions of its proxy Hezbollah.

The attack was essentially on “the State of Israel and its government symbols,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

Touting Israel’s achievements in dismantling Hamas and degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities, Gallant warned that Israel’s security establishment would “continue to attack any terrorist actors and will strike with force any enemy that harmed or tries to harm the State of Israel.”

“Our actions all over the Middle East have proven this to date, and will prove it in the future as well,” the defense minister continued.

“The attempts of the Hezbollah organization to discourage us and prevent us from achieving the goals of the war will not succeed.”

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, meanwhile, said that Iran, “by means of its proxy Hezbollah,” had made “a big mistake.”

He said that there was a difference between Israel’s attacks on terror chiefs — including those of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps — and the attempt on Netanyahu’s life.

Israel has made clear that it seeks to eliminate the heads of terror groups, Ohana said, but Israel is a democratic, sovereign state whose prime minister has now been targeted.

“Doing so was a big mistake and they will pay a price,” he repeated.

“In my opinion, incidentally, after they pay the price they’ll be sorry they ever learned to fly a paper plane, never mind a drone.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir similarly expressed support for Netanyahu and called on him to “not give up until complete victory in Gaza, Lebanon and Judea and Samaria [West Bank] and until all our hostages are returned home.”

Meanwhile, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar of Netanyahu’s Likud party accused Hezbollah’s Iranian backers of “crossing a red line,” adding in an X post that “the end of the brutal Iranian regime is closer than ever.”

Tehran: It was Hezbollah

Iran, for its part, attempted to distance itself from the drone strike and push the blame solely onto Hezbollah, which itself had yet to acknowledge the attack as of Sunday morning.

Iran’s permanent mission to the UN said in a statement that it had “already responded to the Israeli regime” — an apparent reference to its unprecedented October 1 ballistic missile attack — and that “the action in question has been carried out by Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who had earlier said that the drone attack “exposed Iran’s true face and the evil axis it leads,” dismissed outright the UN delegation’s statement.

“The primary proxy, the tentacle Iran created, funded, armed, trained, and now controls in all its operations, is suddenly portrayed as an independent entity,” he wrote on X. “Your lies and false pretenses won’t help you — you are responsible.”

Meanwhile, hawkish opposition lawmaker and Yisrael Beytenu party chair Avigdor Liberman called on the government to “demand that all democratic countries immediately condemn this attempt to harm the prime minister and his family.”

Now “is the time to act and exact a heavy price” from Tehran by targeting the country’s “strategic facilities” and “military and political elite,” he said, adding that the drone attack was “further proof that the Iranian regime has no red lines and its stated goal is the destruction of the ‘Zionist entity.'”

To that end, Israel’s Channel 12 news claimed, without sourcing, that Israel hoped the drone attack aimed at Netanyahu would give “greater legitimacy for a wider range of targets” when Israel finally retaliates for the October 1 attack, in which Tehran launched some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.

IDF spokesman Rear. Adm. Daniel Hagari avoided any mention of Iran in his own comments on the incident at a press conference, and instead warned that fighting against Hezbollah “would only intensify.”

“This morning, three drones infiltrated from Lebanon. Two were intercepted, and the third hit a building in Caesarea, in an attempt to target the prime minister,” Hagari said, adding that the incident was under further investigation.

“We are fighting Hezbollah with determination. Because of this attempt, and the harm to Israeli civilians, the fighting will only intensify,” he warned.

Responses also came in internationally, as the late US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin relayed to Gallant during a call that he was relieved Netanyahu was safe, according to a Pentagon readout.

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Netanyahu spoke to President Donald Trump after the attack, the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel, and also held a phone call with US House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“I told him America stands strong with Israel and reiterated our ongoing commitment to help counter Iran and its terrorist proxies,” said Johnson on X.

In his own call, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Netanyahu that he was “alarmed to hear about the drone launched towards” his residence earlier today, the UK leader’s office said.

In response to sky-high regional tensions, Iran has increased its military cooperation with Russia and China.

On Saturday, Iran’s state TV said that naval drills hosted by Iran with the participation of Russia and Oman and observed by nine other countries had begun in the Indian Ocean.

The exercises, dubbed “IMEX 2024,” are aimed at boosting “collective security in the region, expand multilateral cooperation, and display the goodwill and capabilities to safeguard peace, friendship and maritime security,” the English-language Press TV said.

Participants were practicing tactics to ensure international maritime trade security, protect maritime routes, enhance humanitarian measures and exchange information on rescue and relief operations, it said.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the terror group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.

The attacks on northern Israel over the last year have resulted in the deaths of 29 civilians. In addition, 43 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.

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