Netanyahu's Home Targeted In Drone Attack; Gunshot To The Head Killed Sinwar, Reveals Autopsy

All the eyes are on Hamas and its leadership changes as Yahya Sinwar's death has come as a significant blow to the militant group. Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East continued to be on the rise, especially with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home being targeted by drones.

Notably, the video of Sinwar's final moments released by the Israeli Defense Force meanwhile sparked a massive debate on social media, whether the Hamas chief was a true Palestinian Hero or a murderer.

The ongoing war in the region, the one on Gaza and the other with Hezbollah has continued its string of destruction.

ALSO READ | Who Was Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar

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Drone Attack Targets Netanyahu's Home

The Israeli government on Saturday said that a drone was launched toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house, with no casualties being reported.

Sirens sounded in Israel on Saturday morning, with a warning of incoming fire from Lebanon. A drone was launched toward Netanyahu's house in Caesarea, the government said.

Neither the PM nor his wife were home and there were no casualties, his spokesperson said in a statement.

Notably, the attack from Hezbollah comes just a day after the chief of its ally -- Hamas -- Yahya Sinwar, was killed during a fight with the Israeli forces.

On Friday, Hezbollah said that it planned to launch a new phase of battle by sending more guided missiles and exploding drones into Israel.

Hezbollah vowed to expand its ops against Jerusalem after its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late September.

How Did Yahya Sinwar Die?

The Israeli autopsy of Yahya Sinwar revealed that the fatal blow to the Hamas top leader was a gunshot injury to the head, the New York Times reported.

Sinwar was earlier hurt in the arm while exchanging fire with Israeli soldiers. The IDF unknowingly came upon the Hamas leader while on a routine operation in southern Gaza's Rafah city.

Israeli troops saw two militants rushing into a building, followed by another one -- who turned out to be none other than Yahya Sinwar.

Dr Chen Kugel, director of Israel's National Forensic Institute, oversaw the autopsy and described the findings in an NYT interview. He said that during the encounter, shrapnel -- likely from a small missile or tank shell -- hit Sinwar on his right arm and injured him.

Dr Kugel said it appeared that Sinwar tried to tie an electric cable around his injured arm to try and stop the bleeding, adding that "it wouldn't have worked in any case". "It was not strong enough, and his forearm was smashed."

In the raw footage released by the Israeli forces, a man -- identified to be Sinwar -- is seen sitting in a chair covered in dust. The man watches the drone for around 20 seconds and then throws what appears to be a stick in its direction.

Dr Kugel said that Sinwar was later shot in the head, leading to his death. His corpse was found in the rubble of the partially collapsed building following shelling, Israeli soldiers said.

The doctor said the soldiers cut off one of Sinwar's fingers for health officials to identify him. His corpse arrived at the National Forensic Institute on Thursday night for postmortem.

Sinwar was relatively pale, considering that he spent long hours in the underground tunnel network. He weighed healthy, over 150 pounds, and had no signs of malnutrition, Dr Kugel said.

Sinwar's body was handed over to the Israeli military after the autopsy was completed, Dr Kugel noted.

Notably, Israeli authorities had Sinwar's DNA information as he had served as a prisoner in the country before. The Hamas leader had spent over two decades in Israeli prisons before being released in 2011 as part of a prisoner swap for an Israeli soldier.

Gaza Still At Risk Of Famine

Amid the continued battle between Israel and Hamas, Gaza remains at risk of famine even as the number of people suffering from extreme levels of hunger has declined in recent months.

The findings from the international authority on hunger crises come days after the United States warned Israel to allow and increase the inflow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying that otherwise, it might stand to lose access to military funding from Washington.

Israel resumed the shipment of aid into Gaza on Monday, after a nearly two weeks pause. It announced a second shipment on Wednesday and said that it will continue to act in accordance with international law "to facilitate and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip".

Notably, 86 per cent of Gaza's population faces crisis-level hunger or worse. The latest findings were released by the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) -- an initiative constituted in 2004 during the famine in Somalia that involved over a dozen UN agencies, aid organisations, governments, and other groups.

The IPC warned that the situation could rapidly worsen, saying that it expects catastrophic hunger levels to double in the coming months. It cited a slowdown in aid in recent weeks, the onset of what typically is a cold and rainy winter, and the harsh conditions people could face in cramped spaces and shelters with little food, clean water or toilets.

"One year into the conflict, the risk of famine persists throughout the whole Gaza Strip as conflict intensifies and winter approaches," the report added.

Israel Uncovers Hezbollah's Web Of Tunnels

Israeli forces have spent the past year identifying and destroying Hamas' underground tunnel network in Gaza. Now the troops are focused on dismantling the tunnel web of the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah.

The Israeli military has sifted through dense brushes of southern Lebanon for the last two weeks, unearthing what it described as Hezbollah's deep attack capabilities, which are highlighted by a tunnel system with weapons caches and rocket launchers.

Notably, the Iran-backed militant group is the Arab world's most significant paramilitary force. It began firing into Israel a day after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Jerusalem on October 7 last year. Hezbollah said that it would keep attacking Israel till there is a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. It also said that its strikes were in support of its ally -- Hamas.

As Israel uncovered a web of Hezbollah's tunnels in southern Lebanon, it believes that they are proof of the militant group's plan to carry out a bloody offensive against communities.

“Hezbollah has openly declared that it plans to carry out its own Oct. 7 massacre on Israel's northern border, on an even larger scale,” Israeli military spokesman Rear. Adm. Daniel Hagari had said the day troops entered Lebanon.