Hezbollah carries out first Arab airstrike on 'Israel' since 1973
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The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon carried out its first-ever airstrike on the Israeli occupation, setting a precedent since the October war of 1973.
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A screengrab from a video published by the Military Media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon depicting the moment a drone launched 2 S-5 rockets at an Israeli military outpost on May 16, 2023 (Military Media)
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah - announced that it had targeted the Israeli settlement of Metula, and an Israeli garrison and vehicles in the vicinity of the settlement's military site through an attack drone armed with two S5 rockets.
The airstrike marked the first-ever airstrike launched by Lebanon, Hezbollah's first-ever airstrike, and the first airstrike to be carried out against the Israeli occupation since the October 1973 war.
#بالفيديو | مشاهد من عملية استهداف المقاومة الإسلامية موقع المطلة التابع لـ "جيش" العدو الإسرائيلي بمسيّرة هجوميّة مسلّحة بصواريخ S5 #الميادين_لبنان #لبنان pic.twitter.com/HO12Pbld5C
— الميادين لبنان (@mayadeenlebanon) May 16, 2024
In its statement, the resistance said that when the drone reached the designated point, it fired two rockets at one of the vehicles and the soldiers gathered around it, inflicting devastating damage on the Israeli forces before then carrying out a kamikaze attack on the designated target.
For its part, Israeli media reported that Hezbollah used, for the first time, a drone armed with S5 rockets, an air-to-surface missile, to attack Metula.
Reports said the Ziv Medical Center received three soldiers wounded by a drone strike near Metula, "one of them was very seriously wounded, and the other two were lightly wounded."
Moreover, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon announced attacking a drone jamming device in the Jal al-Deir outpost on the Blue Line.
Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack on the "Israeli War Ministry's industrial facilities in Tel Hai", north of Kiryat Shmona, in response to the Israeli attack on industrial facilities in the Lebanese Bekaa region.
Hezbollah bombed the David Cohen factory of the Elbit Military Industries Company in Tel Hai.
The David Cohen factory struck in the attack specializes in producing electronic systems for the Israeli forces, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon said.
The Resistance on Thursday carried out numerous operations, including on the Summaqa and Jal al-Alam military sites, as well as the Israeli settlement of Nafah.
Islamic Resistance in Lebanon announced carrying out an operation whereby it launched more than 60 Grad rockets on the command quarters of the 210th Division in Nafah, the Kela air defense barracks, and the Yoav camp for artillery support.
Escalating drone strikes
The Israeli occupation military confirmed that a sensitive military site was hit in a Hezbollah drone attack near occupied Tabarayya on Wednesday.
The occupation military said two suicide drones were launched toward Tabarayya, noting that one of them was shot down while the other hit a military base housing surveillance balloons.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said Hezbollah's second drone hit a sensitive security site housing a large surveillance balloon in Tal Shamaim near the Golani junction.
The newspaper's military correspondent, Yoav Zitun, suggested that Hezbollah's strike was in response to the assassination of commander Hussein Makki near the southern Lebanese town of Tyre on Tuesday.
Hezbollah had announced that its Resistance fighters launched an aerial attack using several kamikaze drones on the Israeli Ilaniya base west of Tabarayya, targeting part of the comprehensive surveillance and detection system of the Israeli Air Force.
The Lebanese Resistance group confirmed that the specified targets were hit accurately, achieving the intended objectives of this limited operation.
Hezbollah added that the operation came in response to the assassinations carried out by the Israeli occupation forces.
'A strategic achievement for Hezbollah'
Avi Ashkenazi, a military analyst in Maariv, described the drone attack in Tal Shamaim as "extremely important in terms of its impact," adding that the Israeli occupation military is investigating the incident to determine whether the drone entered from the border with Lebanon, Syria, or other borders.
Ashkenazi reiterated that the attack is being "comprehensively investigated at the highest levels" as the latest incident was "very difficult and dangerous."
The military analyst said the estimations indicate that the drone entered through Lebanon, crossed a distance, and exploded near an Israeli military facility, causing further damages as well.
Israeli security and military affairs expert, Yossi Melman, said the fact that a drone successfully evaded the Israeli anti-air systems and reached the location of the large surveillance balloon in Tal Shamaim is a "strategic achievement for Hezbollah."
Meanwhile, the Israeli website Mivzakim stated that the infiltration of the drone represents a serious failure for the Israeli anti-air systems, adding that the Israeli occupation military is investigating the way Hezbollah succeeded in slashing the advanced system of the Israeli Air Force.
Israeli media also suggested that this was Hezbollah's "biggest achievement" since the beginning of the war, where it managed to successfully destroy one of the most expensive and advanced anti-air systems in "Israel".
The media pointed out that "Israel" intended to deploy multiple systems all over occupied Palestine through the targeted surveillance balloon, noting that the balloon is used as a key tool in the Israeli anti-air system against missiles and drones.
Experts explained that the targeted balloon, flying at an altitude of up to 4000 meters, detects threats from long distances and provides accurate information about them, before transferring the data to "Israel's" security systems, such as the Iron Dome or David's Sling.
