Lebanon’s Army is reporting that they opened fire Wednesday night against two of three Israeli drones who violated Lebanese air space at the southern border. This was just days after Israeli drones had carried out attacks in Beirut.
The newly raiding drones never got to carry out any such attack, as the
military reported that all the drones returned to Israel immediately
after the shots began being fired. Israeli officials did not respond to
the operation.
This is, however, in keeping with Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s
position on the weekend Israeli attacks, which he said amounted to a
declaration of war. He promised Lebanon would defend itself in the
future, and they appear to have chased off Israel’s forces in this case.
Lebanon’s military does not have substantial anti-aircraft capabilities,
and probably couldn’t prevent Israeli airstrikes if they were
determined to carry them out. At the same time, the use of low-cost
drones seems to be at least in part preemptable for the Lebanese Army.
Lebanese Army Shot at Israeli Drones in Lebanese Airspace
Two of three raiding Israeli drones faced direct fire, returned to Israel
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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