Netanyahu's home targeted by drone attack, says Israel

Attempted strike on Israeli prime minister's house comes as more than 50 killed in 24 hours by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

- MAYA OPPENHEIM

A drone has been launched towards the private home of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coastal town of Caesarea, the Israeli government has said. There were no casualties and neither Mr Netanyahu nor his wife was home at the time, his spokesperson said in a statement.

It comes as more than 50 people in Gaza, including children, were killed in several Israeli strikes in less than 24 hours, according to hospital officials. Sirens wailed yesterday morning in Israel warning of incoming fire from Lebanon, which included a drone launched towards Mr Netanyahu’s house, the Israeli government said.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a ballistic missile towards Ben Gurion airport when Mr Netanyahu’s plane was landing there in September, but the missile was intercepted.

More strikes pounded Gaza yesterday. The Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry said in a statement that Israeli strikes had hit the upper floors of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, and that forces had opened fire at the hospital’s building and its courtyard, causing panic among patients and medical staff. At al-Awda Hospital in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, strikes hit the building’s top floors, injuring several staff members, the hospital said in a statement.