Clouds of smoke rise over Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after an Israeli airstrike on Feb. 26, 2024. (Credit: Reuters)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah fighters successfully used a surface-to-air missile to shoot down a Hermes 450 Israeli drone violating Lebanese airspace in southern Lebanon on Monday, the party announced.
This was the first time since Israel's cross-border strikes on Lebanon began in Oct. 8 that the downing of an Israeli drone has been confirmed. Hezbollah did, however, announce earlier this month that it had "controlled" two Israeli Skylark drones, but gave no further evidence or details on how it had accomplished this.
An Israeli Hermes 450 drone was shot down in Lebanon by Hezbollah on Monday Feb. 26, 2024. (Screenshot of video sent by Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
The Hermes 450, made by Elbit Systems, is a medium-sized drone designed for reconnaissance and surveillance missions and can fly for over 20 hours straight. Each of these drones costs about $2 million. Nicknamed Zik by the Israeli military, the drone can reach an altitude of almost 5.5 km.
According to Hezbollah, the Hermes 450 is a multifaceted drone used for aerial interception and reconnaissance, locating, monitoring and attacking targets on land.
It’s also used for directing artillery fire, providing additional intelligence and fire support for land forces, and signal reconnaissance at the tactical level, the party said in a statement, adding that it is also used for mobilizing armed patrols to address emergency targets.
Hezbollah said in its statement that the downing of the drone "could be seen with the naked eye."
? [#Video] #Hezbollah claims to have shot down an Israeli Hermes-450 type drone with a surface-to-air missile, over Iqlim al-Teffah (Nabatieh), adding that the fall of the drone "was visible to the naked eye."
— L'Orient Today (@lorienttoday) February 26, 2024
? Muntasser Abdallah pic.twitter.com/Mo1AEf4sD6
Earlier Monday, Israeli media reported that alarm sirens sounded in the Marj Ebn-Amer in the "Afoula" region, adding that anti-air systems repelled a surface-to-air missile launched from Lebanon.
After the $2 million data-collecting drone was downed, Israel launched retaliatory strikes, bombing targets deeper inside Lebanon than it had previously since Oct. 8.
These strikes included an attack near Baalbeck, around 75 km deep in Lebanon, on what Israel claimed were Hezbollah’s aerial defense systems.
An Israeli strike near Baalbeck on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. (Credit: Governor of Baalbeck Bachir Khodr/ @BachirKhodr)
'We are on escalatory ladder that could become a war'
Military expert Riad Kahwaji told L'Orient Today that "it's highly significant that Hezbollah managed to down a drone that flies at such a high altitude."
According to Kahwaji this reflects that “Hezbollah has an air defense system that can target planes that fly at such a high altitude,” adding that this undermines Israel’s air’s superiority and Israel’s attempt to maintain full control of the sky and airspace and to be able to allow its planes to move freely without the threat of any attack.”
“Lebanon is witnessing a security escalation today, both in terms of the intensity of the strikes and their depth,” Kahwaji said, explaining that in fact, “every time Hezbollah announces a new weapon, this in itself is an escalation.”
According to him, "we are on an escalatory ladder that has the potential to become a full-scale war."
But have we reached that point?
Not yet, but we are getting closer. However, Hezbollah seems to be trying to have a measured response, Kahwaji concluded.
Other incidents considered escalatory and outside the "rules of the games" between Israel and Hezbollah during the past almost five months of cross-border strikes have not led to a significant expansion of the conflict.