The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that it carried out airstrikes against sites belonging to Hezbollah’s air defense unit in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek overnight, after the terror group shot down a military drone.
The targets included a compound and three additional infrastructures relating to Hezbollah’s air defenses in the Baalbek District, the IDF said.
Baalbek, an area identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is nearly 100 kilometers from the Israeli border.
The overnight strike marked the fifth time amid the war in the Gaza Strip that Israel struck Hezbollah positions in the Baalbek area.
The IDF said the strikes came in response to the terror group shooting down a military drone over southern Lebanon on Saturday with a surface-to-air missile.
In February, Hezbollah managed to shoot down a Hermes 450 drone, prompting IDF strikes deep in Lebanon for the first time in years.
Hezbollah has named 271 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria.
In Lebanon, another 53 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
Following Hezbollah’s downing of a military drone, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday that they had conducted airstrikes against locations associated with the terror group’s air defense unit in Baalbek, northeastern Lebanon, during the course of the previous night.
According to the IDF, the targets included three more infrastructures and a compound connected to Hezbollah’s air defenses in the Baalbek District.
The terror group’s close ally informed AFP that two regions in the region were affected by the strikes: Sifri, located in the heart of the Bekaa Valley, and Janta, an arid and mountainous region near the Syrian border.
There were no casualties from the strikes, according to a source in Lebanon’s Civil Defense Department.
Baalbek is located about 100 kilometers from the Israeli border and has previously been identified as a Hezbollah stronghold. Israel had hit Hezbollah positions in the Baalbek region five times during the Gaza War, including this past night.
The Israeli Defense Forces said that the strikes were a reaction to the terrorist organization using a surface-to-air missile on Saturday to bring down a military drone over southern Lebanon.
After claiming to have taken down an Elbit Hermes 450, Hezbollah later changed its claim to have taken down a Hermes 900. The IDF uses both drones for attack and surveillance missions.
According to the IDF, additional investigation is being conducted into the incident.
For the first time in years, the IDF launched strikes deep within Lebanon after Hezbollah successfully shot down a Hermes 450 drone in February.
The military also said that more Hezbollah locations in Odaisseh and Ayta ash-Shab were targeted on Saturday night.
The killing of seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday by an alleged Israeli strike in Damascus has escalated tensions in the region. Among the dead was Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the Quds Force. Iran has promised to avenge.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, stated in televised remarks on Friday that the group supports Iran’s right to “punish” Israel and that the response is on the way.
Five months after Hamas launched its October 7 attack to start the Gaza war, Nasrallah issued a warning on Friday, saying his group had not yet used its “main weapons” in cross-border exchanges with Israel.
“We haven’t utilized our primary weapons or forces yet,” Nasrallah declared during the live speech commemorating Quds Day, which is observed annually by Iran and its allies as a day of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In an effort to create deterrence, Iran has decided to launch a direct attack on Israel, according to two Iranian officials cited by The New York Times on Friday.
Israel has canceled leave for all combat units and increased troop levels for air defense units in anticipation of a potential counterattack.
Hezbollah-led forces have been attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border almost every day since October 8. The group claims that it is doing this to support Gaza during the conflict there.
Ten IDF soldiers and reservists have dropped dead so far, while eight Israeli civilians have also lost their lives in the border skirmishes. Moreover, Syria has launched multiple strikes without resulting in any casualties.
In the course of the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but also in Syria, Hezbollah has named 271 members that Israel has killed. There have been at least 60 civilian deaths in Lebanon, including three journalists, 53 members of other terror groups, and a Lebanese soldier.
