Drone launched at Netanyahu’s home; Israeli strike kills 33 in Gaza

As G7 defense ministers held talks on Saturday amid rising tensions in the Middle East, a drone was launched toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the northern Israeli town of Caesare.

Netanyahu was not in the area and there were no casualties, his spokesman said, according to media reports. The Israeli military said earlier that a drone launched from Lebanon had stuck a building; it was not immediately clear what the building was. Two more drones entering Israeli airspace were intercepted by the military, it said.

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this week had raised hopes for a de-escalation of the Mideast conflict, but there has been no lessening of tensions in the region. 

An Israeli airstrike Friday on a refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least 33 people including 21 women, the BBC reported, citing the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run health authorities.

Qatar-based Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya reiterated the Palestinian group’s position that no hostages would be released “unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops,” France24 reported. 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Hamas was alive and will survive despite the death of Sinwar, Reuters reported. “His loss is undoubtedly painful for the Axis of Resistance, but this front did not cease advancing with the martyrdom of prominent figures,” Khamenei said. “Hamas is alive and will remain alive.”

G7 defense ministers meeting in Naples, Italy, are expected to focus on escalations in the Middle East as well as the war in Ukraine.