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Hezbollah Claims ‘Complete’ Responsibility for Attack on Netanyahu’s Home, Rejects Ceasefire Talks With Israel
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, Sept. 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
Hezbollah on Tuesday claimed sole responsibility for a drone attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s holiday home, warning another strike against the premier was coming, and said there would be no negotiations for a ceasefire while fighting continued with Israel.
The Iran-backed terrorist organization in Lebanon took “full, complete, and exclusive responsibility” for targeting Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea on Saturday, Hezbollah media chief Mohammed Afif told a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
“If we did not reach you this time, then we will reach you the next time. Between us lie the days, nights, and the battlefield,” the Hezbollah spokesman added.
Israel said a drone was launched at Netanyahu’s holiday home on Saturday. According to reports, the attempted assassination included three drones, one of which directly hit the residence. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were not there at the time. However, the Israeli premier blamed Iran, the chief backer of Hezbollah, for the attack.
“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday. “This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future.”
The Israeli leader also warned, “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.”
A senior Israeli government official similarly told the publication Ynet: “Iran tried to eliminate the prime minister of Israel — it will not escape responsibility.”
Security measures for Israelis ministers and other officials have reportedly been reinforced following the attempted assassination.
Hezbollah’s comments on Tuesday appeared to be an effort to deflect blame away from Iran and place responsibility solely with its chief proxy.
Afif also said during his press conference that there would be no negotiations over a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon as long as fighting continued.
From southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has been pummeling northern Israel with rockets, missiles, and drones almost daily since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza launched its war with the Jewish state last October. About 70,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in the north and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah.
Israel has vowed to ensure all its citizens can safely return to their homes and, in recent weeks, has intensified military operations against Hezbollah, seeking to push back the terrorist army from the Israel-Lebanon border.
The military campaign has been devastating for Hezbollah. The Israeli military said on Monday that the Iran-backed group retains less than 30 percent of its firepower, and since the beginning of the Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon about three weeks ago, some 1,200 terrorist operatives have been killed.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah for the first time acknowledged that Israel had captured some of its fighters in recent weeks. The terrorist group said it had not captured any Israeli soldiers but had come close.
“It won’t take long before we have captives from the enemy [Israel],” Afif said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
The post Hezbollah Claims ‘Complete’ Responsibility for Attack on Netanyahu’s Home, Rejects Ceasefire Talks With Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.