The Hezbollah on Tuesday carried out a “large-scale coordinated attack” using a swarm of drones targeting, at intervals, a specific site in northern Israel, shortly after launching drones against Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, injuring two of them, according to the Israeli channel i24News. This is the first time a coordinated drone attack targeting a single site within Israeli territory has been identified, and the “largest operation of its kind to date,” according to the channel, which does not specify the exact location. However, they did interview an Israeli soldier who was nearby, suggesting it could be a military site. An Israeli security source interviewed by the channel described it as “the largest drone attack ever carried out against Israel to date.”
The action reportedly took place in two phases. First, a simultaneous drone attack was carried out against Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, injuring two of them, one moderately and the other lightly, as well as against a target in northern Israel. Two drones were launched at the target, causing a fire, while the Israeli army “attempted to intercept some of the drones,” the channel reported. Less than an hour later, a second, more powerful wave was launched against the same target within Israeli territory. According to the Israeli channel, “several drones circled the site for several minutes, searching for the optimal impact point.” “I saw two drones hit the target; five seconds later, we spotted another one hovering between the buildings, looking for people,” said an Israeli soldier.
While Israeli sources did not specify where this multiple attack took place, it could be related to the series of attacks claimed by Hezbollah on the military site of el-Abbad, located across from Houla (Marjeyoun), where five kamikaze drones were launched between 4 pm and 5 pm, including one on a drone jamming system. During the same period, the party-militia claimed three shots with the same type of weapons on Israeli positions in southern Lebanon, in Naqoura and Bayyada, in the western sector.
A “worrying simultaneity” for the Israelis
According to an Israeli security source contacted by i24News, this attack raises “concerns” due to the “simultaneity of multiple drones operating together.” “Even if you manage to intercept two or three, others try to track you down,” she said.
The suicide drones “FPV” with fiber optics have been extensively used by Hezbollah in recent weeks to attack Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon, following the model of Iranian-made drones used by the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. They have caused casualties among Israeli ranks, according to the Israeli army radio. The Israeli military headquarters has been trying to find ways to defend against these small, inexpensive, and artisanally manufactured devices that can overcome the sophisticated electronic jamming and radar systems of the Israeli army, worth millions of dollars. Recent reports from Haaretz mentioned the deployment of drones projecting nets to capture the devices used by Hezbollah.
In an apparent new technique to counter drones, life-size mannequins dressed as soldiers have reportedly been placed by the Israeli army inside houses and military positions to attract and divert them from their targets, according to images circulating on social media and relayed by Israeli media in recent days.
