Hezbollah carried out its largest air operation, deploying explosive drones against a mountaintop Israeli military intelligence base in the annexed Golan Heights.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed ally of Hamas, has exchanged almost daily fire with Israeli forces since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel sparked war in the Gaza Strip.
Announcing the largest operation carried out by its aerial forces, Hezbollah said in a statement on Sunday (July 7) that its fighters sent multiple, successive squadrons of drones to target the reconnaissance centre” on Mount Hermon.
Attacks and rhetoric have intensified in recent weeks, raising fears of an all-out conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, who last went to war in 2006.
The Lebanese movement stated that the drone attack was part of its “response” to the killing of an operative in a strike on Saturday (July 6), deep into eastern Lebanon, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border.
The Mount Hermon attack targeted intelligence systems, “destroying them and starting a major fire”, Hezbollah said.
It is worth mentioning that Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and later captured it in a move largely unrecognised by the international community.
The Israeli strike on Saturday killed “a key operative in Hezbollah’s Aerial Defence Unit”, the military said in a statement.
However, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated in a video from Mount Hermon that even if there is a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel will continue fighting and doing everything necessary to achieve the desired result in the campaign against Hezbollah.
The cross-border violence has killed at least 497 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 95 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
While on the Israeli side, at least 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, according to the authorities.
Tens of thousands of residents have been displaced from the border areas in both southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
(With inputs from agencies)
