Hezbollah Attempted Assassination of Netanyahu ‘A Grave Mistake’, Enemies ‘Will Pay’

October 21, 2024

by: Joshua Spurlock ~ Middle East Update

Monday, 21 October 2024 | A Hezbollah explosive drone hit the coastal home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday in the latest escalation in Israel’s war with Iran and its proxies. Neither Netanyahu nor his wife Sara were in the house at the time and no one was injured, Axios reported, citing Netanyahu’s spokesperson. Afterwards, the Jewish leader called the assassination attempt “a grave mistake.”

“This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future,” Netanyahu said on Saturday evening in comments published by his office. “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.”

According to the Axios report, three drones were fired into the area in the Israeli town of Caesarea and two were intercepted by Israel. The brazen attack comes as Israel prepares to hit back at Iran for the launch of almost 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 and continues to war with Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas.

Also on Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz slammed claims from Iran’s Embassy to the UN that they were not responsible for the attempted assassination of Netanyahu. In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Katz responded to Iran saying Hezbollah acted alone: “The primary proxy, the tentacle Iran created, funded, armed, trained, and now controls in all its operations, is suddenly portrayed as an independent entity. Your lies and false pretenses won’t help you—you are responsible.”

In his remarks, Netanyahu also implied a threat back to Iran after saying “Iran’s proxy Hezbollah” tried to kill him and his wife: “We will continue to eliminate the terrorists and those who dispatch them.”

With the stakes further elevated, Israel’s anticipated response to Iran looms. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who has been touring the Middle East to bolster Iran diplomatically against Israel, turned to threats on X—and not just against Israel. Iran is also warning the US.

In a post on October 13, Araghchi referenced recent news that US has deployed troops to Israel to man a missile defense system. After alleging that Iran has—in spite of launching two massive missile attacks on Israel—“made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region” the Iranian Foreign Minister said, “I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”

Less than a week later on October 18, Araghchi threatened the US again. Posting a Reuters article of President Joe Biden discussing Israel, Iran’s top diplomat warned, “Anybody with knowledge or understanding of ‘how and when Israel was going to attack Iran’, and/or providing the means and backing for such folly, should logically be held accountable for any possible causality.”

Iran’s inflammatory rhetoric against the US implies a potential escalation in response to an Israeli counterattack on Iran. And after Iran’s top terror proxy targeted Netanyahu, Israel isn’t backing down. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant did not reference Iran in a statement on X about the assassination attempt, but still said it was “intended to harm the State of Israel and its governmental symbols.

“The security establishment will continue to attack any terrorist factor 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.”

Gallant later noted in his post, “The attempts of the Hezbollah organization to discourage us and prevent us from achieving the goals of the war—will not succeed.”

Posted on October 21, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Middle East Update on October 20, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today.)

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