As a result of a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base in northern Israel, four soldiers were killed and dozens were injured, Israeli military reported on Sunday.
The IDF reported that two UAVs were launched from Lebanon, flying over the sea, one was shot down off the coast of Haifa, the second soon disappeared from radar. In the air defense command post, it was decided that the drone had fallen into the sea. However, it flew along a pre-set route at low altitude and ultimately crashed into the dining hall at the military base right during dinner for recruits who had just recently joined the 'training'. The Islamists knew both the coordinates of the dining hall and the meal time, and they also planned the UAV's route so that it flew over land literally at the height of houses, at which radars do not detect small moving objects, reported 'Channel 9' citing military sources. According to the military, this is an Iranian UAV 'Mirsad', which Tehran supplies to Hezbollah.
The strike on the base in Binyamina, a city in the Haifa area, was evidence of a gap in Israeli air defense systems, writes The New York Times. During the acute phase of the military conflict, this became a major threat. Over the past week, Israel has intensified its attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon, delivering powerful strikes on the capital, southern Lebanon, and other locations. The Lebanese government stated that at least 23 people have been killed in the last 24 hours. However, the airstrikes and ground invasion, which began two weeks ago, have not yet achieved the stated goal: preventing militant attacks.
Concerns about new attacks on Israel, which is also at war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, prompted the US to announce on Sunday that it is sending an advanced missile defense system to Israel and 100 military personnel to operate it. At the same time, according to officials, the United States is privately urging Israel to calibrate its retaliatory measures to avoid provoking a larger war in the Middle East. Biden publicly opposed an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and expressed concerns about a strike on Iran's energy infrastructure.
Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder called this deployment part of 'broader adjustments that the US military has made in recent months' to support Israel and protect American personnel from attacks by Iran and Iran-backed groups.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier on Sunday warned that the United States is putting the lives of its military personnel 'at risk by sending them to operate American missile systems in Israel'. 'Although in recent days we have made great efforts to contain a total war in our region, I clearly state that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,' Araghchi wrote on the X website.
This week, Israeli troops entered the southern part of Lebanon and engaged in confrontation with United Nations peacekeepers who are trying to maintain a buffer zone. This happened after several days of criticism of Israeli forces in connection with attacks that resulted in at least four peacekeepers being injured in Lebanon, writes Reuters. Although none of the peacekeepers were harmed, the invasion of the Israeli troops into the UN base risks undermining its neutral status and making it a target for Hezbollah, according to the organization. Israel claims that the peacekeeping forces, which mainly perform an observational role, have failed to prevent Hezbollah from increasing its military presence along the border, with militants operating near peacekeepers' bases. In recent weeks, Israeli officials have called for the mission to retreat. 'Your refusal to evacuate mission soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,' said Benjamin Netanyahu in an address to the UN.
Photo: Reuters