Israel uses booby-trapped drones in southern Lebanon, killing at least three

Wednesday saw the rare use of booby-trapped drones by the Israeli military, killing at least three people in Lebanon. Such booby-trapped drones are uncommon, as the military generally uses airstrikes.

Earlier in the day, two booby-trapped drones exploded in Maroun al-Ras Park (Bint Jbeil). This park, known as the “Garden of Iran,” houses an observation tower overlooking the border and northern Israel and a statue of former Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Baghdad by the U.S. Air Force in January 2020. A little later, a third booby-trapped drone crashed into Maroun el-Ras.

An Israeli drone also targeted a motorcycle in Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun). Around 4:30 p.m., Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters, Ali Abed Ali, originally from Aitit, in southern Lebanon. According to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent in the region, he was killed in this strike.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, the number of Hezbollah members killed in Lebanon and Syria now stands at 438, according to our count. Shortly before noon, Hezbollah also announced the death of Hani Hussein Ezzeddine, born in 2001 and originally from Deir Kanoun ea-Nahr, in southern Lebanon. It was not clear where he was killed.

In the early evening, a security source reported that an Israeli drone attacked a motorcycle on the Biyyada road (Sour), killing two brothers, Ishac and Hussein Aalyan, aged 12 and 17, according to information from L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent.

'Military buildings'

At dawn on Wednesday, the Israeli army carried out a series of ten strikes on wooded areas of Zebqin, Shaytieh, and Qelayle (Sour) within the span of thirty minutes. The explosions were heard as far as Saida, Nabatieh, Sour, and the Zahrani region, according to reports from residents. At 7:00 a.m., new strikes targeted the outskirts of Naqurah, and the Israeli air force bombed an area between Yohmor and Zaoutar al-Sharkieh (Nabatieh).

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said that "four areas in southern Lebanon" were bombed, in order to destroy "approximately 30 missile launching platforms and military buildings of Hezbollah, which posed a threat to Israeli citizens."

During the day, Israeli attacks targeted several areas in South Lebanon. Artillery shelling targeted Mhaybib, the outskirts of Blida (Marjayoun), as well as the surroundings of Marwahine, Umm al-Tout, and Boustan (Sour). Strikes were also directed at Naqoura (Sour) and the heights of Kfar Shouba (Hasbaya). Israeli artillery shelling also targeted the surroundings of a center of the Civil Defense of the Islamic Health Committee, linked to Hezbollah, in Khiam (Marjayoun).

Ten artillery shells were fired at the Baraka neighborhood in the village of Khiam. Mortar shells were fired toward the Wazzani area (Hasbaya), and at least twenty shells fell on Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil). Heavy artillery shelling, accompanied by white phosphorus munitions, targeted the village of Dhaira (Sour). The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that a citizen suffered from suffocation due to an Israeli phosphorus bombardment on Khiam and was admitted to the Marjeyoun government hospital for treatment.

Finally, Israeli warplanes bombed the outskirts of Yater (Bint Jbeil), as well as the surroundings of Rachaya al-Foukhar (Hasbaya), causing forest fires in the latter area. Israeli aircraft also targeted Aita al-Shaab and Houla (Marjayoun). According to a security source, the attack on Houla targeted a home. Israeli warplanes also carried out an air raid targeting the region of Khreibeh, located between Khiam and Rachaya al-Foukhar (Marjeyoun).

Attacks by Hezbollah and the al-Qassam Brigades

Hezbollah carried out some operations on Wednesday. In response to the Israeli attack that targeted a residential building in Nabatieh on Tuesday, the party said it had targeted an Israeli military checkpoint in the village of Dan, opposite Khiam. The Haaretz daily had previously reported that a man was injured by a rocket fire in Dan on Wednesday afternoon.

In response to the Israeli attack on the village of Zebqin in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah announced that it had fired Katyusha rockets at "the new headquarters of the 146th Division forces" in the new Israeli base of Abirim, in northern Israel. The party also said that it had fired Katyusha rockets at artillery positions in Zaoura in the occupied Syrian Golan, in response to Israeli attacks on Khiam and Aita al-Shaab earlier in the day. Hezbollah also announced that its fighters targeted an Israeli soldier position at 6 p.m. in the site of Abad, which faces the Lebanese village of Houla.

Finally, the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced that it had "fired a salvo of 30 rockets from southern Lebanon at the headquarters of the Western Brigade 300 in Khirbet Maar in the northern Western Galilee."

"The rockets targeted the brigade's artillery positions, its maintenance center, as well as the gathering of enemy forces there," the brigades said in their statement.

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