Firefighters douse a burning car after it was hit in a reported Israeli drone attack in Lebanon's southern area of Sour near the border with Israel on March 13, 2024. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Since the outbreak of the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel on Oct. 8, drones have been an increasingly important tool in attacks carried out by both sides. Last Wednesday, Lebanon's caretaker foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib, said, in an interview with Télé-Liban, that he expects "the war of attrition that Israel is waging with its drones to continue."
One day after the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza on Oct. 7, Hezbollah started to carry out near-daily military operations against Israeli positions along the Lebanese-Israeli border to which Israel responded by striking targets in southern Lebanon. However, the tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have escalated recently as Israel has started to strike deeper into Lebanese territory, including the Bekaa, Jadra and the surroundings of the cities of Saida and Sour.
Drones have been used by Israel to carry out targeted strikes against Hezbollah and Hamas officials. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been launching drone attacks against Israeli soldiers and shooting down Israeli drones.
However, the extensive use of drones does not mean that this tool can replace conventional warfare. Contacted by L'Orient Today, retired general Bassam Yassine does not believe that the war of drones can replace other kinds of warfare but it is rather just an additional way to attack. "Ground warfare entails taking over an area which can not be done with drones," he said.
"Drones serve to potentially prepare for ground warfare through pushing an enemy away as much as possible."
What does this "war of drones" look like?
Israel's significant drone strikes
Israel has been using its technological advancement and artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out precise drone strikes in Lebanon. This marks a remarkable shift from the Israeli tactics used during the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. Hezbollah has not yet been able to technologically adapt itself to this new kind of Israeli warfare.
Here are the most significant Israeli drone strikes that targeted Hezbollah and Hamas officials in Lebanon since October:
Nov. 5: An Israeli drone targeted a car in Ainata (Bint Jbeil district), killing three children and their grandmother.
Jan. 9: Ali Hussein Bourji, a senior Hezbollah official, was killed in a drone strike that hit his car in Khirbet Slim (Bint Jbeil).
Jan. 20: An Israeli drone targeted two cars in Bazourieh (Sour), killing Hezbollah executive Ali Hodroj, Mohammed Bakr Diab (an expert in IT and telecoms) and two other people.
Feb. 10: An Israeli drone struck a car in Jadra (Chouf). The attack targeted Hamas recruiter Basel Salah who managed to escape. Hezbollah member Khalil Fares was killed in the attack along with a Syrian civilian.
Mar. 13: An Israeli drone strike on a car outside the southern Lebanese city of Sour killed a member of Hamas and a passing motorcyclist.
Hezbollah drone strikes
On its side, Hezbollah has also used drones to carry out attacks against Israeli soldiers. According to Yassine, Hezbollah has "a big drone arsenal and is producing them in Lebanon." The "technology used to produce drones is not very complicated," which explains why Hezbollah has a lot of drones.
Yassine also explained how Hezbollah has been carrying out drone attacks against Israel: "The party commands drones, which carry explosives until they reach their specific targets on which they land and explode."
Here are the most prominent drone attacks claimed by the party:
Dec. 10: Hezbollah said that its fighters conducted a drone attack targeting an Israeli army "advanced command center … south of the Yaara base." The party added that it caused several injuries among the Israeli ranks.
Dec. 16: Hezbollah announced that it launched a drone attack on a position of Israeli soldiers outside the Ramim barracks, which led to "casualties" among its members.
Mar. 11: Hezbollah claimed that it launched an aerial attack with four drones on the Israeli "air and missile defense headquarters" in the "Kilaa barracks," located in the occupied Golan heights. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said that "two suspicious aircraft crossed from Lebanon and fell in the northern Golan Heights, causing no casualties or damage," according to Haaretz. Following this strike, Israel carried out two airstrikes in the Bekaa for the second time since October.
Hezbollah shoots down/takes over drones
Hezbollah also said it downed or seized control of several Israeli drones in the past months. Here's a list of the most prominent operations of this kind:
Oct. 29: Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone for the first time over Khiam (Marjayoun).
Nov. 18: Hezbollah said that it shot down a Hermes 450 Israeli drone and that it was "seen falling" in the Galilee area. The Hermes 450 is a multi-payload drone made by Elbit Systems, an Israeli-based weapons manufacturer, and costs around $2 million. Nicknamed Zik by the Israeli military, the drone can reach an altitude of almost 5.5 km.
Feb. 10 and 13: Hezbollah announced that it seized two "Israeli Skylark" drones, which were in "good technical condition." Also made by Elbit, the skylark is a small 45-kilogram drone that is used by the Israeli infantry rather than its air force. The drone is radio-controlled; its capture could signify certain hijacking capabilities on the part of Hezbollah.
Feb. 26: Hezbollah said that it shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over the area of Iqlim al-Tuffah with a surface-to-air missile.
Israeli drones targeted by Hezbollah (Credit: Guillem Dorandeu/L'Orient Le-Jour)
Unclaimed drone crashes in Israel
Feb 19: A drone was found by the Israeli army near the Tiberias lake in northern Israel. Hezbollah did not claim any drone attack against Israel on that day.
Feb 20: Cited by Haaretz, the Israeli army said that a Hezbollah drone was found "in the Galilee" in Northern Israel, "near the home of the head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council (a local authority grouping several villages)." Contacted by L'Orient Today, Hezbollah said back then that the drone did not belong to the party and that it was "probably an Israeli drone."
Fears are growing of a potential long drone war between Hezbollah and Israel as analysts expect Israel to keep carrying out targeted airstrikes in Lebanon in the coming months. Hezbollah will also likely launch additional drone attacks especially if Israel escalates.
