In a shocking escalation of tensions, a drone strike carried out by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group killed four Israeli soldiers and wounded over 60 others at a military base near Binyamina in north-central Israel on Sunday night. The attack, one of the deadliest on Israel since October 7, 2023, has raised serious questions about the effectiveness of Israeli air defense systems.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that they targeted a training base belonging to the IDF’s Golani Brigade with a “swarm of drones.” The group said the attack was in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Thursday that killed 22 people and injured 117 others. The timing of the attack was particularly significant, as it came on the same day that the United States announced it would be sending a new air-defense system to Israel to bolster protection against missiles, along with troops needed to operate it.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launched by Hezbollah hit an army base “adjacent to Binyamina,” a town north of Tel Aviv located roughly 40 miles from the Lebanese border. The IDF reported that seven Israeli soldiers sustained severe injuries in the attack. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service reported a total of 61 people were wounded.
Hezbollah’s media office released an audio message from its slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah, shortly before the attack. In the message, Nasrallah urged his group to “defend your people, your family, your nation, your values and your dignity.”
According to reports, the drone attack struck a dining hall inside the military base. Initial investigations indicate that two drones, both “Mirsad” drones (known in Iran as the Ababil-T), were launched by Hezbollah and entered Israeli airspace from the sea. The Alma Center, an Israeli research institute focusing on security challenges in the north, described the drone used in the attack as having a 120-kilometer assault range, a top speed of 370 kilometers per hour, the capacity to carry up to 40 kilograms of explosives, and the ability to fly at altitudes of up to 3,000 meters.
In addition to the drone swarm, Hezbollah claimed to have fired dozens of rockets towards the northern Israeli towns of Nahariya and Acre, aiming to engage Israel’s air defense systems. “These drones broke through the Israel defense radars without detection and reached their target at the training camp of the elite Golani Brigade in Binyamina,” Hezbollah claimed. However, no warning sirens were activated in the Binyamina area at the time of the attack, raising questions about how the drone was able to reach Israeli territory undetected.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari stated that the circumstances surrounding the incident were being thoroughly examined, as the drone managed to evade warning sirens. “The IDF has full operational control over the incident,” Hagari said, urging the public to avoid spreading rumors while the facts were still being established. “We will investigate how a UAV can breach without warning and hit a base,” he added. Hagari acknowledged that Israel has faced the threat posed by UAVs “since the beginning of the war” and stressed the need for better protection. “We will investigate this incident, learn from it and improve,” he said.
This incident highlights the growing threat posed by sophisticated drones and the need for robust countermeasures to protect against such attacks. It also raises concerns about the effectiveness of Israel’s air defense systems, which are considered to be among the most advanced in the world. The aftermath of the attack is likely to see a renewed focus on bolstering air defenses and exploring new strategies for countering these sophisticated threats.
