BEIRUT: Israeli jets on Saturday pounded Haret Hreik in southern Beirut as Hezbollah announced it had targeted the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu using drones.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military spokesman, warned residents of Haret Hreik to evacuate before the area was struck.
An Israeli target map included the building of the Islamic Charitable Emdad Committee affiliated with Hezbollah.
The area has been hit with consecutive days of airstrikes over the past three weeks, with residents evacuating in the wake of the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.
Fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah entered a new phase on Saturday with the Israeli announcement that drones had been launched at Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea, south of Haifa.
Meanwhile, Israeli expanded its air campaign against Hezbollah to new areas, including Chtaura in central Bekaa and the coastal town of Jounieh in Mount Lebanon.
The development in Caesarea was kept under wraps for some time, with three drones said to have crossed into Israel from Lebanon in the morning.
Israel blamed Hezbollah for the attack, though the party has yet to claim responsibility.
One drone crashed in Caesarea, where Netanyahu owns a private residence.
Netanyahu’s office said: “A drone was launched toward his home in Caesarea, but the prime minister and his wife were not there, and no injuries were reported.”
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that the drone “flew 70 km from Lebanon and directly hit a building in Caesarea,” while Israeli media reported that “shrapnel hit a nearby building.”
In an official statement, the Israeli army acknowledged that it “detected three drones crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory, two of which were intercepted.”
The military operations room of Hezbollah a day earlier had announced a “transition to a new and escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy.”
This would “be reflected in the developments and events of the coming days,” it added.
In August this year, Hezbollah released footage captured by an observer drone that had infiltrated Israeli airspace, showing Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military drone on Saturday struck a residential apartment in the Qataya building in Chtaura at 5 a.m, killing one man and injuring two other people.
A reporter, who requested to remain anonymous, told Arab News that the dead man was affiliated with Hezbollah, “but we are unaware of his military rank.”
Hours later, another Israeli military drone tracked a vehicle traveling from northern Lebanon toward Beirut along the Jounieh highway.
It launched a missile at the car but missed, before firing a second missile that prompted the driver to flee the vehicle with his wife.
The pair ran into a nearby forest but were struck by the drone and killed.
Initial reports suggested that they were from the Al-Burj Al-Shamali area in southern Lebanon.
The Al-Hadath TV channel reported from sources that the target was a “military leader in Hezbollah’s intelligence.”
The Ministry of Health said: “The Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Jounieh resulted in the deaths of two individuals.”
The Israeli army previously employed the same drone-launched missile during the assassination of a driver in the Kahala area three weeks ago.
The target was killed as his family, who accompanied him in the vehicle, were left unharmed.
Eyewitnesses at the time described the incident as a “silent targeting.”
The assassination on Saturday caused significant confusion in Jounieh, a Christian area with no Hezbollah presence, and which has rarely drawn Israeli attention.
Israeli airstrikes intensified in the southern region and the Bekaa, coinciding with Hezbollah’s targeting of northern Israel.
The strikes on western Bekaa killed Haidar Shahla, the mayor of Sohmor, after a raid targeted the town of Baaloul.
In southern Lebanon, Israeli jets raided the surroundings of a building previously used by the demining organization “MAG” in Kfar Joz in Nabatieh, as well as Chkeif, Kfarkila and Srifa.
Kfarshouba, Khiam and the Marjayoun valley were targeted by Israeli artillery.
A raid targeted and completely destroyed a building on the Zefta-Nabatieh highway, while other raids struck the town of Ebba.
A raid on a building in Jal Al-Bahr, Tyre, near a medical center, injured six people, one critically. The targeted region includes commercial shops, medical clinics and residential buildings.
A raid on Kharayeb injured three civilians.
Meanwhile, ground fighting continued in the border region, notably on the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab, Ramieh and Kafra, where violent clashes are taking place for the third consecutive day.
In Bekaa, Israeli raids reached the town of Khodor in western Bekaa, Mecherfeh on the northeastern border of Hermel, Bouday, the barrens of Shmistar, the surroundings of Qasr and Hosh Sayyid Ali in Hermel on the Syrian border.
In a series of statements, Hezbollah announced that it targeted Safed, Haifa, Israeli military bases and gatherings in Rosh Pinna, east of the Malkia settlement, and Jal Al-Deir, northeast of the Avivim settlement.
Hezbollah also said that it launched “a swarm of attack drones” toward the Ein Shemer base of Israel’s air force, as well as a regional brigade base east of Hadera.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that “several missiles landed in Tiberias and its lake,” adding that “three drones were fired from Lebanon toward Nahariya, Akka and the Haifa Bay, one of which was intercepted by the Israeli army.”