Israel intensifies strikes in Beirut, Gaza after Netanyahu assassination bid

The Hamas media reported that at least 73 people, including doctors, died after Israel launched airstrikes that hit several houses and a multi-storey residential building on Saturday.

In Short

• Israel said it targetted Hezbollah's arms unit in Beirut
• Airstrikes hit northern Gaza, Hamas claims 73 dead
• Netanyahu calls assassination bid "grave mistake"

Israel intensified its attacks on Lebanon and Gaza after a drone exploded near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Caesarea in southern Haifa on Saturday. The Jewish nation said it struck Hezbollah's arms facilities in an airstrike on Beirut and "Hamas terror target" in Gaza in retaliation for the assassination bid on Netanyahu.

While the Israeli Prime Minister and his wife were not there during the strike, Netanyahu described it as an assassination attempt by "Iran's proxy Hezbollah" and called it a "grave mistake".

Israel responded to fire with fire following the assassination bid on Netanyahu, with an airstrike hitting several houses and a multi-storey residential building in Beit Lahiya town in northern Gaza on Saturday.

The Hamas media outlets reported that at least 73 died in the attack, including doctors. However, Israel clamped down on the reports, saying the numbers were exaggerated.

The Jewish nation also justified the attack, claiming that the attack was accurate and was aimed at eliminating a Hamas target.

Israel-Hezbollah conflict latest updates

1. A drone was launched from Lebanon towards the private residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Caesarea, which is about 20 kilometres south of the Haifa city area.

   The prime minister and his wife were not at the house at the time of the incident, but Israel said Hezbollah has targeted the area regularly.

   Responding to the attack, Netanyahu said nothing would "deter him", asserting that Israel would win the war.

2. The assassination bid on Benjamin Netanyahu came a few days after Israel eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar who was responsible for carrying out the October 7 attacks on the Jewish nation, which has been regarded as the initiation of the latest conflict
3. Following the assassination bid, Israel launched airstrikes on Beirut and claimed to have targeted Hezbollah's arms facilities. The Jewish nation also launched airstrikes on northern Gaza and claimed to have neautralised a "Hamas target".
4. On Saturday, Israel launched an airstrike on Gaza which hit several houses and a multi-storey residential building. Hamas media claimed that 73 people, including doctors, were killed in the strike. However, Israel called the numbers exaggerated, claiming that the strike was accurate and was aimed at a Hamas target.
5. Gaza's civil defence agency on Saturday said that an Israeli military operation had killed more than 400 people in two weeks in the territory's north.
6. Israel’s military on Saturday dropped leaflets in southern Gaza showing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar dead, with blood running down his forehead. "Sinwar destroyed your lives," it said. "Whoever lays down his weapons and returns the kidnapped people to us, we will allow him to leave and live in peace."

7. Israeli ally US said that it wanted the Jewish nation to scale back its attacks on the Lebanese capital of Beirut, saying that the number of civilian casualties was "too high".

   "And we'd like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes," said US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

8. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who don’t distinguish combatants from civilians but say more than half the dead are women and children.
9. Israel has issued near-daily warnings for people to leave buildings and villages in parts of Lebanon. The fighting has displaced more than 1 million people, including around 400,000 children.
10. Since October 2023, more than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them in the last month, according to Lebanon's health ministry, while 59 people have been killed in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, according to Israeli authorities.