A drone was launched towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the Israeli town of Caesarea on Saturday, days after Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed.

On Saturday morning, Israel sounded sirens warning of an incoming drone launched from Lebanon towards Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea. Fortunately, neither he nor his wife were home and no casualties were reported.

Israel’s military announced that 55 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel in two separate barrages. The army stated that some “of these projectiles” were intercepted, and no immediate casualties were reported.

Israel also reported that it had killed Hezbollah’s deputy commander in the southern town of Bint Jbeil. The army stated that Nasser Rashid supervised attacks against Israel.

Another air strike in Lebanon near Beirut struck a vehicle on a main highway, resulting in the deaths of two people. It was unclear who was in the car.

The conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas supported by Iran, has escalated in recent weeks. Hezbollah has announced plans to intensify the fighting, mentioning sending more guided missiles and exploding drones into Israel.

The leader of the militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late September, after which Israel deployed ground troops into Lebanon earlier this month.

In addition to the situation with Hezbollah, a standoff is also ongoing between Israel and Hamas, which is battling in Gaza. Both parties are signaling resistance to ending the conflict after the recent death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Regarding Iran’s involvement, its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that despite the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Hamas would continue its fight against Israel. He mentioned that Hamas had endured the killings of other Palestinian militant leaders and emphasised that Hamas would persist due to its resilience.

Last month, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a ballistic missile towards Ben Gurion Airport when Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plane was landing. The missile was intercepted.

Amid an escalation stand off between India and Canada, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that Canada failed to act on India’s request seeking extradition of Lawrence Bishnoi gang members.

Addressing in a press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that similar extradition requests of syndicates linked to the Bishnoi gang were made recently as well, but Canada has not responded yet.

The Ministry also furnished names of Gurjit Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Lakhbir Singh Landa, Gurpreet Singh for extradition, stating that the members of the Bishnoi gang were among them.

Randhir Jaiswal said that the MEA had informed Canada about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its syndicates and requested their provisional arrest and extradition some years back, and also recently. Nonetheless, there has been no response from Canada so far, he continued.

The MEA spokesperson also reiterated that Canada did not share any evidence in connection with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He stated that India has made their position very clear on this particular matter. He added that since September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared any shred of information with the MEA.

He said that Canada always brought forth freedom of speech as their argument whenever India sought action against anti-India and separatist elements.

Notably, the government’s statement came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was earlier mentioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for being involved in the murder of Nijjar in September last year.

Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians and passing it to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. While testifying before the country’s foreign interference inquiry, Justin Trudeau claimed that the Canadian agencies tried to work behind the scenes with India before he came out with the allegation in NIjjar killings.

In the same testimony, Justin Trudeau also acknowledged that his government only provided intelligence and no proof to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

India-Canada diplomatic relations worsened earlier this week when Canada announced that top Indian diplomats in Ottawa were persons of interest, as far as its investigation into Nijjar’s killing was concerned. In retaliation, India dismissed Canada’s stand, and recalled six of its top diplomats from Canada, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma.

India slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cavalier attitude after he acknowledged that he had only intelligence-based speculation and no hard evidentiary proof regarding the alleged involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Issuing a statement late at night, the Ministry of External Affairs said that what they have heard only confirms what they have been saying consistently all along. Canada has presented India with no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats.

The MEA squarely blamed Justin Trudeau for the ongoing diplomatic row between the two nations, which witnessed diplomats being expelled in tit-for-tat moves, the recent in a year-long dispute that has plunged bilateral relations to a new low.

The statement sternly remarked that the responsibility for the damage that the cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone.

The strongly worded response followed Justin Trudeau’s deposition at a parliamentary inquiry on foreign interference, where he addressed what he characterised as broad efforts by Indian representatives to silence critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Canadian soil.

A couple of days after both sides mutually expelled each other’s diplomats amid a worsening stand off, the Canadian leader sought to hit back by claiming that there were clear indications that India violated his country’s sovereignty.

However, PM Justin Trudeau while testifying before the Commission of Inquiry acknowledged that his government only provided intelligence and no proof to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

Justin Trudeau stated that when Canadian agencies asked India to look into the allegations, New Delhi sought proof, and at that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof.

The diplomatic standoff between Ottawa and New Delhi has strengthened in recent weeks, with both sides accusing each other of mishandling the situation. India has repeatedly charged Canada with making baseless accusations without providing any evidence.