Israel Attacks Hezbollah Airstrip Believed Built By Iran To Launch Drones
In the latest development along Israel's war-torn northern border with Lebanon, new Israeli strikes have taken out an airstrip which served Hezbollah's aerial unit, described as having an Iranian built runway used to launch drones.
It's located in the Qalaat Jabbour mountain region, and the IDF says it was responding to a drone attack on Israel earlier Thursday. Additionally, Hezbollah has continued raining down a "large number" of missiles on Israel's Mount Meron surveillance base. Israel said the base suffered minor damage.
According to Israeli media, "Hezbollah has been trying to harm Israel’s aerial defenses, with a projectile attack this week that caused damage to a sensitive IDF air traffic control base in northern Israel. It was the second such attack on the Mount Meron base in recent weeks."
As for the Hezbollah military airport, Israel's defense chief has previously claimed that paramilitary group flew an Iranian flag over the small drone base, indicating possible IRGC support on the ground:
The IDF on Thursday attacked a key Hezbollah-Iran airstrip at Kilat Jaber for launching aerial attacks against Israel in a major escalation between the sides.
In September 2023, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed pictures showing the joint Hezbollah-Iranian terror base in southern Lebanon only 20 kilometers from the border with Israel.
Gallant said at the time that at the airport, one can see Iran’s flag flying on the runways from which the ayatollahs’ regime is using to plot against Israel.
Hezbollah has said these attacks are a legitimate response to "recent assassinations and repeated attacks on civilians" in Lebanon and Syria. The tit-for-tat fire from both sides has been daily and slowly intensifying, but still hasn't broken out into the kind of all-out runaway war that many have feared.
Though Hezbollah has a small to medium-sized drone arsenal, still its bedrop weapon of choice is drawn from its literally tens of thousands of sophisticated surface-to-surface rockets.
Hezbollah also possesses missiles which can lock onto targets, something typically only possessed by militaries of sovereign states.
Israel's Iron Dome anti-air defense system has been very busy to say the least, also given that small drones are hard for it to intercept, as it's designed primarily for larger inbound rockets.