Israeli media: IOF air force faced difficulty downing Hezbollah drones

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A preliminary Israeli occupation forces investigation revealed that the IOF air force pilots faced difficulty in downing one of Hezbollah's unmanned drones that were launched towards the Karish platform on Saturday, Israeli news website Walla reported.

The IOF investigation report also revealed that the Israeli pilots failed to track the second Hezbollah drone that was launched at the Karish platform before the drone was downed using a Barak missile from the Saar 5 Class Corvette.

The preliminary investigation indicated that the IOF missile launched missed the target, while Israeli pilots also faced difficulties in identifying the third drone because it was flying at a low altitude.

It is noteworthy that since the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah - announced the launch of three unarmed drones toward the disputed region of the Karish gas field on a reconnaissance mission on Saturday, Israeli media has repeatedly touched on "Israel's" response problems.

Israeli media: Fear is prevalent in the security establishment

In the same context, Israeli media reported that the three drones operated by Hezbollah as they headed for the Karish natural gas field were not carrying weapons, but rather a message of "you have to submit to our demands," stressing that “Israel” is not after escalation with Hezbollah, yet it holds its ground.

Walla said fear is prevalent in the security establishment of further attacks by Hezbollah, indicating that Hezbollah’s actions appear to be more of a declaration of intent. 

The website said that Hezbollah's operation entails "important repercussions on the ongoing negotiations of the demarcation of maritime borders and the size of the Israeli forces deployed to protect the Karish gas-drilling platform and handle other threats,” not to mention stripping the workers at the Karish gas platform of any sense of security, having gotten a taste of what Hezbollah is capable of once the Lebanese Resistance party decides to alter the goal of the drones from surveillance to attack and even to launching missiles against the platform.

Hezbollah has much more capabilities than those demonstrated

Israeli media further indicated that “Hezbollah has much more capabilities than those demonstrated yesterday [Saturday], especially that the main goal was to deliver a message and not necessarily to inflict harm,” adding that “the last word in the battle over the economic waters has not yet been said, and indirect negotiations are expected to continue.”

"Protecting the Karish platform, a platform located about 100 kilometers off of the shore, is far more complicated than protecting the Leviathan platform, for example, which is ten kilometers off of the shore," Israeli media considered.

Hezbollah is able to attack strategic targets inside "Israel"

On his part, security official Amir Avivi said that Hezbollah is able to attack strategic targets inside "Israel" with hundreds of drones at the same time, adding that in the last decade, the Lebanese Resistance has increased its armament from 50 drones to more than 2,000.

Avivi stressed that it is important to know that the Iranians and Hezbollah are not afraid of confrontation and failure from time to time, pointing out that the two are studying and planning for a battle that is tens of times bigger than expected.

Similarly, Yossi Langotsky, a former IOF official, said that if Karish had been targeted, the repercussions of the event would have been very dangerous, especially since it is a very special platform that was built in the far east over a very long period of time, and hitting it can paralyze the gas extraction process.