Following the reported killing of one of its fighters by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militia group, has launched drone attacks into Israeli territory. The attacks targeted Israeli bases north of the city of Acre, marking the most significant Hezbollah incursion since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Hezbollah’s statement claims that a “combined air attack” was executed, utilizing decoy and explosive drones to target two Israeli bases between Acre and Nahariyya. The group released what appears to be a satellite image of the attack site, denoted by a red circle and flash. While the Israeli military initially claimed no knowledge of any attacks, they later acknowledged intercepting two “aerial targets” off Israel’s northern coast.
In a separate incident, an Israeli air raid reportedly struck a residential area in the southern Lebanese town of Hanin, resulting in the deaths of two individuals and injuries to six more. The alleged targets were two Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, leading to Hezbollah’s confirmation of one fatality, Hussein Azkoul. Another Israeli attack allegedly killed Muhammad Attiya, a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces, though Hezbollah has yet to respond to this report.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war following Hamas’s attack on October 7, cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military have become almost daily occurrences. Approximately 270 Hezbollah fighters and 50 civilians have been killed in Israeli attacks, while Hezbollah rocket and drone fire has claimed the lives of about a dozen Israeli soldiers and an equal number of civilians, displacing tens of thousands on both sides.
