Strike Spotlights Threat Of Drones To Israel

 

"TEL AVIV -- The Lebanese militia Hezbollah struck an Israeli military base in central Israel with a drone, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens, highlighting a weak spot in Israel's vaunted air defense system that military officials said is hard to counter.

The drone, which was launched Sunday night, was able to pass detection by Israeli forces before crashing into a Golani infantry brigade military base near Binyamina. Overall, 61 were wounded, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency service.

The drone didn't set off warning sirens and struck a dining hall as soldiers were eating dinner, according to state-owned Army Radio. The drone left a large hole in the ceiling of the dining hall, with blood splattered on the floor, according to photos and videos shared in Israeli media. Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, saying it had launched a squadron of attack drones at the base.

Current and former military officials have said that Israel has struggled to come up with adequate solutions to counter drones being fired by Hezbollah, especially at the detection stage.

While drones have played a crucial role in Ukraine, Israel's military has focused on longstanding threats such as rockets and missiles and has viewed drones -- or unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs -- as a side issue.

"This was a difficult event with painful results," said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Israel, who visited the Golani base Monday. "We are concentrating significant efforts in developing solutions to address the threat of UAV attacks."

The Israeli military said that in response to Hezbollah's drone attack, it had issued a directive to prioritize targeting the Hezbollah drone unit, with the objective of dismantling its capabilities.

Separately, at least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent encampment for displaced people in central Gaza, which Israel said targeted militants.

A large fire broke out inside the encampment near the area of the strike, according to witnesses and footage on social media verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal. Some 40 people were wounded as a result of the fire, including women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said an agency school, which was planned to be used for a polio vaccination campaign, was hit in the same area, with 20 reported killed. Lazzarini said the vaccination campaign in the school was canceled.

Asma Aljendeb, 22 years old, was staying with her two children at a tent near the hospital as the fire started to spread. "I had to wake my children up. We left before our tent was set on fire as well," she said.

Israel is believed to be planning an attack on Iran in response to Tehran firing 180 missiles at Israel on Oct. 1. Israel has assured the Biden administration that the attack won't target nuclear and oil facilities, U.S. officials said.

The Hezbollah drone attack on Israel shows how the group has improved its use of drones since the start of the war, including using surveillance drones, explosive drones and first-person-view drones, or FPVs, that can be navigated by an operator.

Drones are cheap compared with costly defense systems. It costs Israel around $100,000 per interception of a much cheaper drone with its Iron Dome system. Jet fighters are also considered expensive compared with more cost-effective solutions such as acoustic sensors.

Since Israel escalated its campaign against Hezbollah last month through intensified airstrikes and a land operation, the U.S.-designated terrorist group has been hit hard, including Israel killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior commanders. Israel said that it has successfully destroyed a large percentage of Hezbollah's weapons arsenal, which was estimated at around 150,000 missiles, rockets and UAVs before the war.

At the same time, Hezbollah has continued to fire hundreds of projectiles at Israel daily, including firing missiles at central Israel on Monday that caused no casualties, according to preliminary reports. It remains unclear how significantly Israel has been able to damage the militant group's arsenal.

"The fact that its capabilities have been significantly harmed doesn't mean that it doesn't have remaining capabilities," said Sarit Zehavi, founder and president of Alma Research and Education Center, a think tank in Israel, referring to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has been firing large amounts of UAVs and drones at Israel for months, and it wasn't surprising that some have been able to slip through, Zehavi said. Sunday's attack on the military base took place under the cover of a large barrage of rockets that appeared to have been aimed at overwhelming Israeli air defenses, she said.

While Hezbollah's FPVs have so far only been used against military hardware, security analysts fear that their use could expand, improve and be used for assassinations or by relying on optic fibers which can't be jammed." [1]

1. Strike Spotlights Threat Of Drones To Israel. Peled, Anat.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 15 Oct 2024: A.1.