Video shows damage to Netanyahu's beach house as Hezbollah claims a drone strike

CNN
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Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu's beach house was damaged in a drone strike claimed by Hezbollah, video footage geolocated by CNN shows, in an attack that penetrated deep into Israel even as the militant group suffers from ongoing Israeli bombardment.

According to Israeli officials, Netanyahu and his wife were not at home at the time of Saturday's attack in the coastal city of Caesarea and no one was injured.

But the incident raises questions about how the drone was able to evade Israeli air defenses, even as Hezbollah's leadership was decimated and the Israeli military is stepping up attacks across much of Lebanon.

CNN affiliate Kan 11 published an exterior photo of the home showing damage to a window with cracks and what appeared to be burn marks. Kan 11 reported that the damaged window was that of a bedroom.

“Approved for publication: the UAV that launched Hezbollah and hit the prime minister’s house in Caesarea,” reads the caption of the photo shared by the reporter.

Video geolocated by CNN shows the same scene of the exterior window in what appears to be the home's backyard.

The Israeli military said on Saturday: “Three UAVs have been identified that entered Israeli territory from Lebanon. Two of the UAVs were intercepted. Another UAV hit a structure in the Caesarea area.”

The Israeli prime minister's spokesman confirmed the attack that day, but it was only on Tuesday that Israeli authorities acknowledged that the drone had hit the house.

Hezbollah on Tuesday claimed “full and exclusive responsibility” for the attack and issued a warning: “If we have not reached you yet, know that there are days, nights and the battlefield between us and you.”

In a post on

“I say to the Iranians and their partners in the axis of evil: anyone who harms the citizens of the State of Israel will pay a heavy price,” Netanyahu added.

Iran denied involvement in the drone strike, saying the operation was “carried out by Hezbollah.”

Drones have proven to be something of a low-tech but deadly threat to Israel.

The country's air defense systems are formidable, intercepting and destroying most projectiles fired at the country. But they were designed and developed primarily to defend against rockets and missiles, not drones that can be launched from anywhere, fly low and slow, and change direction quickly.

A deadly Hezbollah attack in early October killed four soldiers at a military base about 40 miles from the border with Israel.

In July, a drone launched by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels killed one man and injured at least 10 others in Tel Aviv. No sirens were activated during this attack. The IDF said two drones were fired and one was intercepted but the other was not – allegedly due to human error.

The attack on Netanyahu's home comes at a time when the regional conflict in the Middle East is expanding. Israel has still not implemented its expected response to Iran with a ballistic missile attack earlier this month and is continuing its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The incident also comes as the U.S. investigates a top-secret U.S. intelligence leak about Israel's retaliatory plans against Iran following an Iranian missile fire against Israel on Oct. 1.

CNN's Eyad Kourdi and Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting.