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LEBANON-ISRAEL

Hezbollah shoots down another Hermes-900 drone

An Israeli official told Reuters that "war in Lebanon is not inevitable."

Hezbollah shoots down another Hermes-900 drone

Residents watch the flames in a field after Hezbollah fired on an Israeli position in the Syrian Golan occupied by Israel, June 10, 2024. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)

On Monday, Hezbollah announced that it shot down an Israeli Hermes-900 drone over Lebanese airspace. Although it is a relatively sophisticated model, it is the fifth Hermes 450 or 900 type drone that Hezbollah announces having shot down since February. According to AFP, the Israeli army confirmed that a “surface-to-air missile was launched towards a drone operating in Lebanese airspace,” adding that the drone “was damaged and fell into Lebanese territory.”

In addition to this, Hezbollah carried out around ten attacks against Israel on Monday. It claimed to have carried out an "air attack with a squadron of drones on the headquarters of the Golan 210 Sha'el division, targeting officers' positions and inflicting confirmed injuries." According to the party, part of the headquarters was destroyed and set on fire.

Shortly before, the Israeli army claimed to have launched interceptors on two drones in the north of the occupied Golan Heights, adding that the interception had failed. “The drones fell in the area,” said the Israeli army spokesperson, quoted by Haaretz. A fire broke out on site, Israeli media added.

Hezbollah also targeted, again using drones, the new headquarters of the Israeli 146th Brigade east of the coastal town of Nahariya. The party specifies that this headquarters had already been moved following a previous attack, which was launched in retaliation for Israeli bombings that killed at least two Hezbollah members on Saturday in Markaba and Aïtaroun.

Israeli jets carried out a strike on the village of Aita al-Shaab, a security source told L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent in south Lebanon. Several people were slightly injured and treated. The Israeli army also carried out two strikes on Aitaroun, causing a fire.

'I have urgent news'

Furthermore, during the night from Sunday to Monday, residents of the town of Bazourieh, where Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, comes from, received warning messages on their phones, presumably from Israeli intelligence, saying that a building in the village was about to be targeted.

The warning message written in Arabic and received by a resident included the following paragraph: “Good evening. This is Haytham. I have urgent and important news to communicate to you. The four-story building located near Mousallem station will be targeted in the coming moments. You must immediately ensure that everyone in the building is evacuated. You are responsible for everyone's life ... The building is about to explode."

The residents quickly evacuated the building concerned as well as neighboring buildings, according to information collected by L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent. Last week, minutes before a three-story warehouse building was completely destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, several residents of Wadi Jilo also received alert messages on their phones.

The style, structure and content of the two messages were quite similar. Local school principals have also asked students not to go to class on Monday as a precaution. In the end, no attack took place in the village. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed on Sunday evening that “the resistance forces would not sit idly by if Israel embarked on an adventure in Lebanon,” warnings that seem to have resonated in Tel Aviv, with an Israeli official telling Reuters on Monday that “the war in Lebanon is not inevitable and we have expressed our openness to the diplomatic efforts of Paris and Washington [to achieve de-escalation]."

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.

On Monday, Hezbollah announced that it shot down an Israeli Hermes-900 drone over Lebanese airspace. Although it is a relatively sophisticated model, it is the fifth Hermes 450 or 900 type drone that Hezbollah announces having shot down since February. According to AFP, the Israeli army confirmed that a “surface-to-air missile was launched towards a drone operating in Lebanese airspace,”...