A drone carrying a Hezbollah flag in Aaramta, in southern Lebanon, during a military parade held in May 2023 to commemorate the liberation of the south from Israeli occupation. (Illustration photo by Anwar Amro/AFP/Archives)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah released a nine-minute video on Tuesday showing drone footage of alleged Israeli military positions throughout the over 1,000 square kilometers of the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which borders Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The farthest point, according to the map released by Hezbollah marking the sites its drone surveilled, is 46 kilometers from the Lebanese border, at the southern tip of the Golan.
This video, published on Hezbollah's "War Media" channel on Telegram, is the second in a series showing video recorded by its "Hudhud" drone, named after Israel's national bird, known as a "hoopoe" in English. The first installment featured the Israeli port of Haifa and displayed an alleged "industrial site run by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Iron Dome platforms, missile warehouses, and missile component manufacturing sites."
The drone managed to make the 27-kilometer journey to and from Haifa without being shot down by Israel's missile defense system. The army said it opted not to intercept it because the aircraft "had no offensive capabilities" and the army feared "a failed interception could endanger residents in the area."
In the second video, Hezbollah showed drone footage of "six strategic sites for electronic surveillance" belonging to the Israeli army, five of which are in the Golan Heights, along its eastern border with Syria, and one in the disputed Shebaa Farms — which the party claims as Lebanese. Hezbollah's Hudhud drone also captured footage from 17 other alleged military sites located in the western sector of the Golan, ranging from the northern slopes of Mount Hermon down to the southern shores of the Sea of Galilee, 46 kilometers from the border with Lebanon.
A screenshot from the video of surveillance footage released by Hezbollah on July 9, 2024, highlighting the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. (Credit: Hezbollah media office)
Hezbollah says its drones have reached some of these military surveillance sites multiple times. The video included positions that the party has previously attacked and also showed footage of newly constructed Israeli military sites and roads, claiming these were established following the war, which broke out following Hamas' Oct. 7 al-Aqsa Flood operation.
Other alleged sites displayed in the video include Iron Dome sites, military headquarters, buses transporting soldiers, and other potential military targets. The video concluded with a teaser for the third installment without disclosing where its footage would come from.
A screenshot from the video of surveillance footage released by Hezbollah on July 9, 2024, showing an alleged military site in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. (Credit: Hezbollah media office)
Hezbollah's attention on the Golan Heights
On Sunday, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted an observation post belonging to the Israeli army on Mount Hermon in the Golan. Its fighters used "consecutive squadrons of explosive drones" in what they described as the "most important operation carried out by its air forces" since opening its "support front" for Gaza on Oct. 8. It was the first time since the war started that Hezbollah attacked this site. The military base is strategically important to the Israeli army as its altitude allows it to monitor areas of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Saudia Arabia. The Golan Heights are recognized internationally as being Syrian land illegally occupied by Israel, which captured the Golan in 1967 and formally annexed it in 1981.
Claiming to support Hamas by diverting the Israeli army's resources and attention northward, Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel along the southern border almost daily since the war in Gaza began. These attacks have intensified, accompanied by aggressive rhetoric, raising fears of regional escalation.
Hezbollah's deputy leader, Naim Qassem, stated on Friday that there would be "no wider war" in Lebanon in the near future but affirmed the party's readiness "for all eventualities." Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, visiting the Israeli military post on Mount Hermon on Sunday, said a cease-fire in Gaza would not automatically apply to the front with Hezbollah.
"Even if we reach a deal for a hostage agreement, it does not obligate what is happening here, unless Hezbollah comes to an agreement," Gallant told soldiers station there, as cited by Israeli media.
Following a cabinet meeting in late June, in which the defense minister and prime minister butted heads with far-right ministers over an all-out war in the north, Gallant told reporters a diplomatic solution was preferable and that Israel is “not looking for war.” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly threatened that should a broader war break out, the party would strike Tel Aviv.
- Strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon; Hezbollah fire on northern Israel: Roundup of what you need to know this Saturday
- Residents of Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut's southern suburbs appeal to UNRWA
- Jordanian and Egyptian aid planes arrive in Beirut with food, medical supplies