Hezbollah introduces new weapons against Israel
This week, Hezbollah, a militant organization based in Lebanon, used a drone equipped with two missiles to attack a military position located in northern Israel. The Israeli military reported that three troops were injured in the incident, one of them critically.
Over the previous seven months, Hezbollah has been firing missiles across the Israeli border on a regular basis; nevertheless, the one on Thursday seems to be the first successful missile airstrike that the group has conducted from inside Israeli airspace.
The group has intensified its operations against Israel in the last few weeks, especially in the wake of the Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah. It has brought new and more advanced weaponry and hit further within Israel.
“This is a method of sending messages on the ground to the Israeli enemy, meaning that this is part of what we have, and if needed we can strike more,” said Lebanese political analyst Faisal Abdul-Sater who closely follows Hezbollah.
Also read: India-US Dialogue on Africa amidst African Union admission to G20; Find out the latest development
Cross-border exchanges have been ongoing since October
Although the cross-border gunfire clashes have been going on since early October, Hezbollah’s “complex attacks” started a few days following Iran’s historic mid-April strike on Israel with drones and missiles.
According to a Lebanese official familiar with Hezbollah’s activities, the organization has intensified its activities during the last two weeks in reaction to the Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Because he was not authorized to provide the media with military intelligence, the official only agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.
The Thursday afternoon attack by a missile-carrying drone came just days after Hezbollah launched three anti-tank guided missiles at an Israeli military position that was in-charge of a surveillance balloon flying over the border.
Also read: Minister of Ports & Shipping heads to Iran to Finalize 10-Year Agreement for Chabahar Port
Afterward, they made camera footage public to demonstrate that they had succeeded. The Israeli military verified that the surveillance balloon had been shot down above Lebanon a few hours later.
The previous evening, Hezbollah launched its most extensive assault on Israel to date, employing explosive drones to target a base in Ilaniya close to Tiberias, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the border with Lebanon. According to the Israeli military, no one was harmed in the attack.
Iran-backed militants in Iraq have reported that they have shot several drones into Israel in recent weeks after being mostly silent since February. Meanwhile, Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed on Wednesday that they had targeted a US destroyer.
