Hezbollah Launches Deepest Drone Strike in Israel Since War Began

Strike targeted military base some 35 km away from the border

Israel and Hezbollah carried out tit-for-tat airstrikes throughout Wednesday. Scores of Hezbollah missiles were fired at northern Israel and a drone strike against a military site near Golani Junction hit some 21 miles from the border.

Israeli military reported damage but no injuries from the explosives-laden drone, but more noteworthy is the fact this is the deepest strike into Israeli territory since the current war began in October.

Most Hezbollah strikes against Israel have been to within 9.3 miles of the border. Showing a capacity to strike this much deeper into Israel means many sites, previously thought relatively safe, are within range of attack.

Israel responded to the drone strike with several strikes into northeastern Lebanon, hitting the towns of Nabi Chit and Brital in the Bekaa Valley. This too was a very deep strike, some 51 miles from the border itself.

Israel commonly attacks targets in and around the city of Baalbek in the northeast. The area, not far from the Syria-Lebanon border, is seen as having an active Hezbollah presence with an eye toward smuggling arms into the country.

The attacks come a day after an overnight Israel strike against a target in Tyre, destroying a vehicle and killing two Hezbollah members, including a commander named Hussain Ibrahim Meki.

Hezbollah’s strikes were seen as retaliation for the deaths of their members, and Israel’s strikes against Lebanon were retaliation for the unusually deep drone strike.

Author: Jason Ditz

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.