Iran says Hezbollah behind drone attack on Netanyahu’s residence

TEHRAN: Iran’s United Nations mission said Saturday (Oct 19) that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, armed and financed by Tehran, was behind a drone attack on the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This action was taken by the Lebanese Hezbollah,” the mission said in response to a question about Iran’s role in the attack, according to the official IRNA news agency. 
Earlier Saturday, Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of trying to kill him after his office said a drone from Lebanon had hit the premier’s family home.
The Tehran-backed militant group, which fights Israel in Lebanon’s south, has not yet acknowledged 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.
Addressing “Iran and its proxies”, Netanyahu vowed that “anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price”.
The spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei also slammed Israel for “spreading lies” as its “current and permanent practise of this regime and its criminal leaders” in regards to the accusations against Iran, according to IRNA.
Iran-aligned armed groups, known as the “axis of resistance” that includes Hezbollah, have been drawn into the Israel-Hamas war, which has raged in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Tehran has also launched two direct attacks on arch-foe Israel during the war, most recently a barrage of 200 missiles on October 1, for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.
Iran has said it will strike back if Israel attacks.