Israel Strikes Hezbollah Assets in Lebanon
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group has been in place for over a month.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck military sites located in the Lebanese village of Janta on Friday, targeting facilities used to smuggle weapons across the Syrian-Lebanon border. According to Israeli news outlets, the IAF targeted an “engineering vehicle” a few days prior, after its troops detected Hezbollah militants trying to reconstruct infrastructure in the area in violation of the ceasefire. Israeli officials previously noted that it intercepted a surveillance drone launched by Hezbollah over its territory, which also violated the ceasefire agreement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a statement following these incidents, stressing that “Despite Hezbollah’s attempts to return to Southern Lebanon, the IDF remains determined to operate in accordance with the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and will work to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Since Hamas carried out its October 7, 2023, massacre against Israel, Iran’s regional proxy groups have exploited the Jewish state’s perceived vulnerability. The Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in the Gaza enclave have frequently launched barrages of drone, rocket, and missile attacks targeting Israel. Hezbollah, Israel’s northern neighbor, arguably poses the greatest threat to Israel’s security since its weapons stockpile is more advanced than its near-peer proxy affiliates. While a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group has been in place for over a month, it is unlikely this temporary cessation in violence holds.
An overview of Hezbollah’s drone arsenal
Drone warfare has monopolized recent modern conflicts, from the Russian-Syrian invasion and the 2021 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Since unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are cheaper and much easier to produce than similar arms, they make the perfect weapon for non-state actors like Iran’s regional proxy groups.
Hezbollah reaps the benefits of a variety of drones, including surveillance, attack, and loitering missions. Perhaps the most deadly are loitering drones, often nicknamed suicide or “kamikaze UAVs,” these autonomous missiles can linger in the air for a period of time prior to locating and striking a target. These are arguably the preferred drone type when it comes to warfare since they provide operators with unprecedented levels of flexibility and precision in the modern era.
While Hezbollah’s drones may not necessarily have all these capabilities, they are pre-programmed with a flight path and destination. As detailed by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, “Hezbollah collects intelligence on sites it wants to attack and then launches UAVs with a flight path to attack the site. The drone is on a one-way mission and if it doesn’t hit its target, it will hit something nearby. It must be shot down before impact.”
Hezbollah’s stockpiles of drones include the Mirsad family of UAVs (based on the Iranian-designed Ababil and Mohajer) and the Shahed-136 (which has been notably deployed by Russian troops in Ukraine). Israeli officials estimated that Hezbollah possessed up to 150,000 rockets and at least 2,000 UAVs back in 2022, although these numbers may be even higher today. The added dimension of drone warfare will continue to contribute to the already turbulent situation in the Middle East.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
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