Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement announced on Sunday that it launched its “largest” air operation, deploying explosive drones against a mountaintop Israeli military intelligence base in the annexed Golan Heights. This marks the latest incident in escalating cross-border exchanges of fire that have raised global concerns.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed ally of Hamas, has been trading near-daily fire with Israeli forces since the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack on Israel initiated the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.
In what it described as “the largest operation” by its aerial forces, Hezbollah stated that its fighters sent “multiple, successive squadrons of drones to target the reconnaissance centre” on Mount Hermon. The Israeli military confirmed that an explosive drone “fell in an open area in the Mount Hermon area” without causing any injuries.
The rhetoric and attacks have intensified in recent weeks, raising fears of a potential full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, who last went to war in 2006. Hezbollah indicated that the drone attack was part of its “response” to the killing of an operative in a strike deep into eastern Lebanon on Saturday, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border.
According to Hezbollah, the Mount Hermon attack targeted intelligence systems, resulting in their destruction and igniting a major fire. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited troops on Mount Hermon.
The Israeli military reported that its air defenses “successfully intercepted” several “aerial targets” that crossed from Lebanon after sirens sounded in the Golan Heights area. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and later annexed the territory, a move not widely recognized by the international community.
The Israeli strike on Saturday reportedly killed “a key operative in Hezbollah’s Aerial Defence Unit,” according to the military.
Throughout Sunday, Hezbollah announced four additional attacks on Israeli military sites across the border using barrages of rockets and some guided missiles. Israeli authorities reported four wounded.
In a video from Mount Hermon, Gallant asserted that “even if there is a ceasefire” in Gaza, Israel would “continue fighting and doing everything necessary to bring about the desired result” in its campaign against Hezbollah.
The cross-border violence has resulted in at least 497 deaths in Lebanon, predominantly fighters but also including 95 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, at least 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, as per Israeli authorities. The conflict has displaced tens of thousands of residents from the border areas in both southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
