Hezbollah Launches Largest Strike Yet Against Israeli Mountain Base

Israel drone strike kills Hezbollah rocket and missile unit member in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah officials announced Sunday that they had launched their biggest attack on Israel, with a massive drone assault on the Mount Hermon reconnaissance base in the occupied Golan Heights. This was the biggest attack since the beginning of the tit-for-tat Israeli and Hezbollah attacks that started after October 7.

The attack came as Hezbollah sent a flurry of explosive drones across the border targeting the Mount Hermon base, destroying electronic and surveillance systems and starting a fire in the area.

Hezbollah said the attack was part of the retaliation for the death of Maytham Mustafa al-Attar. Attar was a member of Hezbollah’s air defense unit who was killed in an attack on his vehicle in Baalbek District, in northeastern Lebanon.

This is reported to be the first Hezbollah attack on the base. A media source said this was the first attack on the Mount Hermon base since the 1973 Arab-Israel war. Hezbollah has, however, targeted other military bases in northern Israel.

Later in the evening, Israel carried out a drone attack against a target close to the border in southern Lebanon’s Tyre District. This attack killed Mustafa Hassan Salman, a Hezbollah figure who was a member of the rocket and missiles unit.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading attacks since October, with a growing number of strikes in recent weeks. There has been concern that the escalating strikes will lead to a full-scale Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Israel is doing nothing to downplay the chances of war. The US and other nations are concerned that Israel’s involvement in the Gaza War precludes Israel’s ability to commit enough forces to successfully invade Lebanon. Efforts to forge a ceasefire in Gaza have provoked Israeli officials to present peace as an opportunity to further escalate on its northern border.

Hezbollah says it would honor a Gaza ceasefire, but Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says a separate deal is needed, and that Israel fully intends to continue fighting Hezbollah even if a Gaza truce is reached.

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.